A physician wearing the traditional physician's cap conducts a urinoscopy on the flask he holds. A woman is seated beside him, waiting for the results. In the foreground the alchemist's assistant is tending to a furnace with a distillation in progress. On the floor is a mortar and pestle, books, glassware, and a manuscript with alchemical symbols. The room is lit by a large open window and draped with a dramatic curtain at right.