Death pierces a soldier from behind. The text is:
Mars hin Mars her, |
March here, march there; |
The text is from "Besonders meubliert- und gezierte Todten-Capelle" (picture to the right), from a chapter ridiculing military discipline.
There is presumably a pun in "Mars", military march, and Mors, Death. This pun becomes even sharper in the Dutch translation from 1768, De kapelle der dooden:
Mars mag zeer veel Volk verslinden; |
Mars may devour very many people; |
Here, "Mars" is instead the Roman god of war and the Dutch translator opens the chapter with a poem praising the heroes of Antiquity.
The scene is a copy of Holbein's knight (picture to the left):