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A lady slips her hand inside her jacket as if testing her heart beat against the tick of the watch she holds to her ear. The presence of an extinguished candle in the background to her right suggests that the picture intends to remind the viewer of the transience of human life and love. A lit candle was a common symbol of the flame of desire (cf. Jan van Mieris P176) and a comparable subject by Netscher depicts a young woman winding a watch by the light of a candle (Florence, Uffizi). The lady’s costume, with its elegant ermine-trimmed jacket, recalls the work of Terborch (cf. Terborch P236), while the picture’s loose, rather careless execution is comparable to a 'Lady Combing a Child’s Hair' (1669; Amsterdam, Rikjsmuseum) suggesting a date c.