[2] There are five versions of this painting and one engraving, but most experts believe the most reliable copy is part of the collection of the Musée Municipal in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which is kept locked in a safe[3][4] and loaned out on a limited basis for special exhibitions in France and abroad.

[5] The painting comes from the bequest of Louis Alexandre Ducastel, a notary in Saint-Germain-en-Laye from 1813, who was also city council member and mayor in August 1835 and (provisionally) in 1839.

[5] Bosch depicts how people are fooled by lack of alertness and insight, creating a "spellbinding tension" that reappears in his later paintings.

The central character and true focus of the image is the man of rank in the forefront who leans in and is fixed on the pearl in the conjurer's hand while unaware of being relieved of his money purse.

[6] Frogs jumping out of the mouth of the central character represent the extent to which the victim let go of reason and gave in to bestial impulses.