In Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time, how is the Scholarly debate discussed?
Crowded into the claustrophobic foreground of the painting are several figures whose identities have been the subject of extensive scholarly debate. At times it has also been called A Triumph of Venus. Its meaning, however, remains elusive. Cupid, along with his mother (Venus) and the nude putto, to the right, are all posed in a typical Mannerist figura serpentinata form.
The two central figures are recognisable as Venus and Cupid. For example, she holds the golden apple she won in the Judgement of Paris, while he sports the characteristic wings and quiver.  Both figures are nude, illuminated in a radiant white light. Cupid fondles his mother's bare breast and kisses her lips. The putto to the right of Cupid and Venus, preparing to shower them with rose petals, is often identified as Folly. On closer inspection his right foot can be seen pierced by large rose thorn pieces—an event that has no bearing on his expression, which seems engrossed in the pleasure of the moment.
The bearded, bald figure to the upper right of the scene is believed to be Time, in view of the hourglass behind him. He sweeps his arm forcefully out to his right. Again, it is difficult to interpret his gesture with any certainty; it could be to prevent the figure at the far left of the picture from shielding the incestuous transgressions of Venus and the adolescent Cupid with the billowing blue fabric that provides a screen between the figures in the fore and background. Many scholars believe that his gesture seems to say "Time is fleeting, and you never know when it may be all over." The figure opposite Time, and also grasping at the drapery, is usually called Oblivion because of  the lack of substance to his form—eyeless sockets and mask-like head. The mask-like face of this figure is echoed by the image of two actual masks in the lower right-hand corner.
The identity of the remaining figures is even more ambiguous. The old woman rending her hair (see detail at left) has been called Jealousy—though some believe her to represent the ravaging effects of syphilis. The creature at the right-hand side behind the innocent-looking putto, with a girl's face and a concealed sphinx-like body, her head twisted at an unnatural angle, her hands reversed, extending a honeycomb with her right hand, and hiding behind her back a scorpion's barb at the end of her long serpentine tail, may represent Pleasure and Fraud. There is, however, no consensus on these identifications.
honeycomb Cupid syphilis putto Judgement of Paris Oblivion figura serpentinata Fraud Mannerist quiver Folly Jealousy Venus Time