The knight, with his arrogant pose, is sitting beside a fountain in which his horse is drinking. He is dressed à l'espagnole, an expression which in eighteenth-century France was used to refer to picturesque or fancy attire, and had no bearing on the Spanish fashions of the time. In fact, dress a l'espagnole was inspired by French fashions from the time of Henry IV and Louis XIII. Fragonard was one of the last representatives of rococo art and this work shows his most characteristic style: touches of light material known as 'virtuosity of speed'.