Axial Commons Image Treasury
Engraving of winged Time holding a mirror with a child, two nude lovers embracing in a wooded landscape, and a skeleton of Death at right.

Allegory of Love, Time, and Death

An engraving shows a winged figure of Time at left, holding a sickle and a staff and gazing into a diamond-shaped mirror that reflects a small child. At right, two nude lovers embrace in a wooded landscape while a skeleton of Death looms behind them. A Latin inscription runs along the bottom edge.

Artist
Hieronymous Wierix
Date
c. 1580
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Source
Art Institute of Chicago
Size
1686 × 1230 px
Download full size
Public domain · Art Institute of Chicago releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1585).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (Art Institute of Chicago, is_public_domain=true)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Art Institute of Chicago, Charles Hack and the Hearn Family Trust Collection, purchased with funds provided by the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial, Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J. Livingston, anonymous, and Suzanne Searle Dixon endowment funds

More from Virtues and Allegories

Beheading of the Roman Judge Papinian, plate 5 from Thrones of Justice (Thronus Iustitiae)Beheading of the Roman Judge Papinian, plate 5 from Thrones of Justice (Thronus Iustitiae)Allegory of the Triumph of the Netherlands over SpainAllegory of the Triumph of the Netherlands over SpainStudy for mosaic in the Wisconsin State Capital "Government and Liberty"Study for mosaic in the Wisconsin State Capital "Government and Liberty"The Claws of a Cat and the Dress of a Devotee - similar to Vice is often clothed in Virtue's habit, plate nine from Los ProverbiosThe Claws of a Cat and the Dress of a Devotee - similar to Vice is often clothed in VirtueAllegory: Combat of Animals in the Presence of Man with ShieldAllegory: Combat of Animals in the Presence of Man with ShieldStudy for Mosaic, Wisconsin State Capital, "Justice"Study for Mosaic, Wisconsin State Capital, "Justice"