At a table beside an open window, two men sit for their portrait. Stacked books, a vase, and a globe line the shelf above their heads, while an hourglass sits on the windowsill. Scholars know nothing about Hans Furraht on the left or Jacob von der Burch on the right, apart from their names, which are inscribed by their heads. Both wear the costumes of fashionable, middle-class burghers, with tight-fitting padded jackets and a soft, low bonnet on their heads for warmth. Hans, shown measuring a skull, may have been a doctor or anatomist; he wears somber clothing decorated only with a ruff around his neck. Jacob, who studies a stereometric form, was probably a mathematician and wears a more ornate checkered jacket with slashed sleeves.

German artists in the 1500s frequently added small clues to suggest greater symbolism in their works. The skull together with the hourglass on the window ledge may suggest vanitas. The difference between the man on the left, who addresses the viewer with his gaze, and the one on the right, lost in study of the object he holds, may contrast the active and contemplative life.