The painting depicts in the foreground the siblings Wolfgang Amadeus and Maria Anna "Marianne" Mozart together playing a fortepiano, and their father Leopold holding a violin.

In the background, the recently deceased mother Anna Maria is depicted in a framed portrait alongside a sculpture of Apollo playing a lyre.

[1] The Mozarts commissioned the family portrait during the summer or autumn of 1780 and sittings were concluded by the end of the same year.

[9] Johann Nepomuk della Croce was a prolific Austrian painter who was active in Salzburg during the late 19th century.

[14] Edward Speyer of The Musical Quarterly called the portrait "by far the most authentic and life-like representation of [Wolfgang] Mozart, both on account of its known history and also because of its artistic excellence.