Schröer interprets the picture as follows: The young woman, who is about to stand bride, sits at the dressing table with wig and powdered coat, contemplating whether to put a beauty spot on her gorgeous chin, while the maid is busy with her hair. As she looks into the mirror, Death shows her a burial shirt instead of a wedding dress.
Kruspe's drawing (right) shows that she has a small box in her hand that could indeed quite well contain fake beauty spots. Götz's watercolour (above) omits the mirror on her table, which is illogical. Then she can't see anything.
Der Tod zur Jungfrau: |
Die Jungfrau: |
Death's last linie is from Death to the maiden in Lübeck: »Und warum wolt ihr mir den letzten Tanz versagen?«
The same goes for the maiden's last two lines: »Ihr Schwestern wählet euch bey Zeiten einen Mann / So reichet ihr die Faust dem Bräutigam im Leben / Die ich dem Tode muß, doch halb gezwungen geben«.