Most are dressed in tattered blankets, threadbare shawls, and disheveled clothing, though some wear colorful sashes and hats.

A young mother, perhaps a recent widow, sits alone holding her infant.

A crippled man lies in a small wooden wagon, his hands wrapped in leather or rags.

Near the center, a tall man leans on walking sticks; one family with two small children stands to his left, while a couple sprawl on the sidewalk with an infant and a dog.

Other beggars seen at the edges of the painting include a woman with a tambourine and several men who may have once been soldiers or tradesmen fallen on hard times.