Compositionally, the painting is chaotically crowded. From the foreground all the way to the back of the painting, there appears to be an endless amount of people. The only points of relief from the mass of humanity are near the dancing couple on the left, and the space above the heads in the distance at the very top which occupies one fifth of the painting. Every visible face bears an expression of merriment, which, in conjunction with warm lighting creates an instant sensation of joviality, even upon first glance. The sunlight appears patchy, and creates somewhat of a polka dot pattern on several individuals in the foreground. The couple on the left seem to have found a large patch of sun, creating a spotlight effect. Renoir's ability to turn such a quant get-together into a painting full of emotional surprises make him one of the most celebrated impressionist artists.