120.7 cm (vertical) × 102.8 cm (horizontal)

 

The scene depicts two herders herding their cattle home amidst wind and rain. The herders appear panicked, whereas the cattle seem calm and composed. The vivid expressions and postures of both the humans and animals bring the scene to life, with the anthropomorphized cattle taking center stage, creating a poignant contrast with the flustered herders and eliciting emotional resonance from viewers. The artist’s meticulous brushwork captures details such as the soft texture of the cattle’s fur, the hardness of their horns, the roughness of the herders’ straw raincoats, the delicacy of willow leaves, the sharpness of reed, and the fluttering grass. In contrast, the background is rendered as a vast, empty expanse, evoking the somber mood of a stormy weather. This contrast between detailed foreground and voided background, a hallmark of its era, guides viewers’ imagination and infuses the scene with poetic atmosphere.

 

The painting bears the signature of Li Di (c. the latter half of the 12th century), a court painter of the Southern Song. The depiction of the cattle aligns closely with his work Herdsmen Returning Through the Snow (Right Section). However, the decorative techniques used in rendering willow leaves, grass, cattle’s fur, cattle’s ribs, and cattle’s horn wrinkles suggest stylistic affinities with another court painter, Yan Ciping (late 12th to early 13th century). This subtle blending of styles hints at the artistic exchanges between Southern Song court painting schools, shedding light on the collaborative and evolving nature of court paintings during this period.