The central subject is a 19th-century Napoleonic cavalry officer, likely a hussar, mounted on a rearing white horse. The officer is depicted in a heroic pose, wearing a tall, cylindrical black fur colback hat with a prominent red plume. He is dressed in a dark blue, gold-braided uniform jacket with white breeches, and he carries a curved saber in his right hand. The horse is draped with a striking leopard-print saddle cloth and is caught in mid-stride, rising on its hind legs as it charges forward.
The artistic style is that of a classical, dramatic oil painting, characterized by loose, textured brushstrokes and a muted, atmospheric palette. The background is a chaotic, smoky battlefield filled with warm, earthy tones of ochre, brown, and hazy grey, suggesting the heat and debris of active combat. In the lower right corner, the silhouette of a discarded cannon wheel and hints of other distant soldiers contribute to the sense of an ongoing engagement.
The lighting is focused on the officer and his mount, highlighting the contrast between the white horse and the dark, shadowed depths of the battlefield. The composition is dynamic and diagonal, emphasizing movement and the intensity of the scene. The overall mood is one of martial turbulence and romanticized historical warfare, rendered with the painterly techniques common to mid-19th-century military portraiture.