Explore the Description of this artwork.
History sits nude on a rock in the front center of the painting, holding a white quill with an open book in her lap. Wrapped around her waist is a green cloth, and another book lies open at her feet.
Time appears behind History, to the right. He is an elderly, bearded man holding an hourglass. His face looks upward so that most of the details of his features are obscured from view. Time bears large, white wings that extend outward, off the canvas on the right and on the left, behind the body of the third figure, who he grips by the arm.
There are conflicting interpretations of the identity of the woman dressed in white on the left of the painting. Most often labeled Truth, she faces the viewer with her breasts partially exposed, holding a scepter in her left hand and a gray book in her right.The background of the painting is light on the left behind Truth and dark on the right side surrounding Time.
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