One can see that de Rosa applied multiple layers of paint to some areas, with less paint to others; however, in no parts of this piece do we see thick globs of paint protruding from the surface. Instead, the canvas maintains an overall smooth texture. Because of this, the viewer can enjoy the painting from both near and far. In fact, a pensive observer may realize that many other contrasts, such as the latter aforementioned, also exist in this painting in a variety of ways. .
To begin with, we shall look at the composition. At first glance the figures seem to be placed in no specific order--almost chaotic if you will. Every one of them is placed in a very shallow foreground, filling up all but a little space at the top of the painting. No perspective is really used because the space does not go back far enough, but with the use of overlapping, as well as lighting, we understand that the figures exists in some amount of space, rather than just standing on top of one another. The sky peeking through in the upper half of the painting is to show the setting, and to imply where our light source is located, being the top left corner. We can see that the light source comes from that corner of the canvas because of the extreme shadows cast by the figures and the weapons they are holding. The contrast between light and dark are so strong in some places that it draws your eyes directly to it almost immediately. Having such a strong light source can be very helpful because it not only further emphasizes the space of the painting, but it also helps separate figures and objects that would otherwise be lost to the viewers eye. .
As I mentioned before, there initially seems to be no order to this painting. Yet, after looking a little closer, the viewer realizes that each figure is connected somehow and related to one another through their gazes as well as gestures and other objects in the painting.