Morning

In the foreground, a woman prepares bread for two children carrying school tablets, while in the background, two men consult heavy volumes by candlelight at a desk. Two framed pictures on the wall illustrate the theme: one depicts the goddess Aurora personifying the dawn, and the other shows travelers on horseback beginning a journey. This engraving captures the transition from rest to the labor and learning that define the 'active life' of the Renaissance.

As part of 'The Four Times of Day' series, this work reflects the Renaissance interest in the correspondence between the macrocosm (celestial cycles) and the microcosm (human activities). It emphasizes the humanist value of early morning study and the disciplined regulation of life according to natural cycles, as dictated by the rising sun (Phoebus).