The Allegory of Fame and History

Hendrik Goltzius

National Gallery of Art

This print features a scene with a winged, angelic woman playing a trumpet above a landscape with ancient ruins and mountains. Below the woman is a pedestal with a skull, an open book, and an urn. Beside the pedestal, on the right, is another nude woman who kneels on the ground, looking at the open book. One of her legs is partially inside a hole in the ground at the bottom right corner of the print. She holds a small square object in one hand that appears to be burning or emitting smoke, with one bird sitting on it and another bird emerging from the smoke. Behind this woman is a horse or deer, its head bent towards the ground. In the air between the two women, an hourglass with wings floats. The background includes architectural elements like columns and towers on a hilly landscape covered with shards of broken pottery. The sky above is empty. There are two columns of text below the print.