The original oil painting measures 380 by 580 centimetres (150 by 230 in).[22] It depicts Arsenije leading tens of thousands of Serbs into exile, riding a horse and flanked by a Serb flag.[2][lower-alpha 2] In direct reference to the Bible, the image is reminiscent to that of Moses leading the chosen people out of Egypt.[24] The irony, Judah notes, is that the Patriarch is leading his people away from their promised land.[2] The Patriarch and four other figures dominate the composition, staggering unevenly across the canvas as opposed to moving in a straight line. "They punctuate the foreground," Filipovitch-Robinson writes, "directing the eye through the diagonals and curves of their bodies and gesture to the next line of figures behind them. Each subsequent line leads to the next."[25] All age groups are represented in the painting, and Jovanović pays special attention to their facial details.[26] Thousands of figures on horseback and on foot appear in the background before eventually receding into the horizon.[25] The left background shows Serbian warriors pointing their lances at the sky while the right background shows lumber wagons carrying families into exile.