A compositionally related painting is inscribed with the title Omnia Vanitas, ‘all is vanity’, with ‘vanity’ in its earlier sense of futility. As with An Allegory in Honour of the Duchess of Mantua (cat. 58), the message is that all human activity – represented by the globe, crumpled books, dead game, precious vessels, paintbrushes and sculpture, and the fleeting pleasures of music and dancing – is rendered meaningless by the passage of time.