De Dinteville, French Ambassador to the court of Henry VIII, and Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur. This life-sized panel .. incorporates symbols and paradoxes, including an anamorphic (distorted) skull. According to scholars, these encode enigmatic references to learning, religion, mortality, and illusion in the tradition of the Northern Renaissance. Art historians ... suggest "Sciences and arts, objects of luxury and glory, are measured against the grandeur of Death". (Wikipedia)