Paudiß, an artist from northern Germany, was one of the painters from the circle of artists around Rembrandt. After years moving from one place to another he started working at the court of the prince-bishop of Freising, Albrecht Sigismund of Bavaria, in 1662. While changing the shoes of the old man who has returned from the market, the young woman notices the broken egg that has fallen out of the basket. The moralising undertone probably refers to the traditional theme of the ill-matched lovers.