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A speciality developed by De Poorter was the vanitas allegory. He treated several different kinds of vanitas motifs, often with a woman looking into a mirror. In the present painting a woman at her dressing table is seen to flinch at a skeleton that is holding up a mirror to her - a reminder of her mortality. The style of the painting is typical of the circle around the young Rembrandt in the 1630s.
De Poorter often incorporated still-lifes into his compositions. Here a great many props are piled up together: shiny brass objects, silverware, jewels and pieces of armour as well as musical instruments.
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