eath presents a skull to The Astrologer. Presumably to show a comparison between the spherical universe and the skull.
Above the head of the astrologer hangs a model of the Universe with the Zodiac,
which is reminiscent of the picture of The Last Judgment.
For further details, see this external link about
The Armillary Sphere .
The astrologer did not appear on most of the printed sheets, but with the official issue
of Les Simulachres & Historiées in Lyon in 1538
he became an integrated part of the dance of death.
Variations: Birckmann lets the astrologer measure a globe;
the window is made square with a shell-motif above.
Valvasor and Deuchar copy Birckmann.
However, Valvasor ignores the mussel-shell above the window, which shows
that Deuchar has copied Birckmann, and not Valvasor.
Rubens places 2 rulers crosswise on the table, and Mechel replaces them with a real cross.
eath presents a skull to The Astrologer. Presumably to show a comparison between the spherical universe and the skull.
Dances of death
Holbein