 He calls the representation of the couple ""qui desponsari videbantur per fidem"" which means, "who were contracting their marriage by marital oath".The man is grasping the woman's right hand with his left, which is the basis for the controversy.Some scholars like Jan Baptist Bedaux and Peter Schabacker argue that if this painting does show a marriage ceremony, then the use of the left hand points to the marriage being morganatic and not clandestine.