A cream-white pumpkin rests on a frayed dark cloth at one end of a rough wooden table. Beside it, two tall candles burn in brass holders, and melted wax runs down the candles and over the table edge. A dusk-blue window is at the left, and shelves of leather-bound books fill the shadows behind.

On the right stand an engraved silver goblet with dark wine, a rolled parchment, an ink bottle with a feather quill, and a stack of books labeled Philosophia and Literature. The thick, textured brushwork is lit by candle flames. Warm highlights stand out against deep browns and near-black.