Lot 15 Dα

Upon the table lies a paper bearing a quotation from the second book of Cicero's five volume work "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (On the Ends of Good and Evil): "sapientem [diremus] plurimis et gravissimis artibus atque virtutibus instructum" (the wise man, equipped with many and the most important arts and virtues") as well as the title and date "Cic: de Finib: Lille 37".
With his right hand, the scholar indicates towards a curtain bearing a depiction of a woman with a large cross and an angel, which could be interpreted as an allegory of faith. The painting would thus be conveying the Baroque idea of vanitas, which stresses the futility of earthly pursuits in the face of the afterlife.