Allegory on the Human Condition

Beneficence, the personification of charity, sits on a chair and is stabbed from behind by Evil in the guise of a naked man. The man's knee rests on a skull and a snake biting its own tail, a symbol of eternity, which hangs around his right leg. To the right stands a coffin. With her left hand, Beneficence gives the sun to the naked man; she gives the moon to the woman before her. Between them lies a bound lion licking a dog. A mouse gnaws at its rope. In the background, several obelisks. The image has an ornamental border. To the left, the personification of Fertility gives birth to a child, who is brought to life by the breath of Apollo as a symbol of the good. To the right, a child is born who receives its breath from Evil. In the upper left, a woman breastfeeds a child. In the upper right, a woman feeds a child with a spoon.