The subject is from Exodus 2.5-6. Moses had been concealed by his mother in 'an ark of bullrushes' beside the river, and was found by Pharoah's daughter. She is seen in the foreground, accompanied by her female attendants, as two kneeling women holding up the infant Moses. The woman at the extreme right, in the distance, is Moses's sister, who 'stood after off, to wait what would be done with him'. Beyond the wide expanse of river a large city with several pyramids can be seen.

The picture's size and historical subject, as well as the flashes of Egyptian local colour, suggest that Zuccarelli intended a break with his typical Italian landscape style as known in England. It has been suggested that this picture was created with a view to public exhibition, and it can perhaps be linked to the founding of the Royal Academy in 1768 and Zuccarelli's founder membership. The picture may have been commissioned by George III; it was presumably the Finding of Moses exhibited by Zuccarelli at the Royal Academy in 1773.

Signed and dated on the sphinx, extreme left: 'Francesco Zuccarelli / Londra 1768.'