'Tempus omnia manifestat': Allegory of Art and Knowledge

A winged old man, Father Time, strides forward with a scythe and pulls a veil from a reclining nude woman while two cupids help him. Pen and ink with gray wash sets the scene beside a classical column and distant water, under the Latin motto 'Time reveals all things.'

Look closer: A small artist's signature and date are written in the lower left corner.

Artist

Johann Melchior Füssli

Date

late 17th–early 18th century

Medium

Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

3142 × 2063 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Jean A. Bonna Gift, 2007