Caillebotte's brother Martial is reading while sitting in the shade of the orange trees with his back towards the viewer.

[10] In the background, the bright sunlight illuminates a circular flower bed surrounded by a curving gravel path, at the edge of which a dog appears to be sleeping.

[5] Caillebotte employs sharp contrast between the shady foreground in the lower part of the image and the bright background.

The strong definition between the areas of sunlight and shadow is a departure from the dappled light that occurs in similar outdoor scenes by Impressionists Renoir and Monet.

[7][5] Art historian and critic Kirk Varnedoe suggests that this contrast contributes to a sense of afternoon heat.