The panel, probably inspired by an original lost drawing of Leonardo da Vinci, illustrates a marriage for economic reasons between persons of different ages.

Goya, Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer and Lucas Cranach the Elder dedicated works and studies to this subject.

Matsys made another version with the man older, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The mockery, hypocrisy and foolishness of the scene is highlighted by the burlesque features of the characters and, in particular, by the figure at right, shown putting the necklace spread on the table inside a box.

The "grotesque marriage" is also present in the satirical literature, as in the poem Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant (1494), which in its 52nd chapter tackles the "marriage-for-money" theme.