Ludger tom Ring's output consists almost entirely of still lifes and portraits of stolid German burghers and their families. The man portrayed in this work is a doctor, a fact clearly conveyed by the books in his library, authored by Hippocrates, Galen, Vesalius and others.

The inclusion of a skull and an hourglass, common in Northern Renaissance portraits, is meant as a reminder of the brevity of life and the fleeting nature of worldly pursuits, including the intellectual endeavors of the physician.

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