In a charnel ground there are bodies everywhere in different states of decomposition: freshly dead bodies, decaying bodies, skeletons and disembodied bones.
The painting gradually changes from a handsome blue-eyed and black-haired young man to a withered, balding old man and finally, to a decaying skeleton.
He is shocked by the scale of the urban collapse that has struck the city law and order has broken down and marauding gangs terrorise the litter strewn, decaying streets.