3-043-999 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A Double Portrait of Hans Furraht and Jacob von der Burch, about 1560. Additional Info: 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.