A dead ox hangs in a dark room, its horns and skin lie on a slab, while a woman cleans the floor. The apparently unusual subject – that of a slaughtered animal – was quite common in the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The picture may be intended to remind people of the death that awaits us all. The free handling of the paint and the brown colouring are typical of Rembrandt. Although Rembrandt's signature is at the bottom of this painting it is possible that while he arranged the composition an assistant may have done most of the painting and signed it.