Reproductie van Verbeelding van het leven tijdens de Bronzen Eeuw, een prent door Hendrick Goltzius

A central female figure in classical armor, likely representing the Bronze Age or Bellona, stands prominently on a hill holding a spear. Surrounding her are scenes of human industry and emerging conflict: laborers build a stone fortress, sailors navigate a rough sea in a galley, and soldiers prepare for war. The foreground is littered with symbols of martial technology, including a helmet, sword, and early cannon.

This work belongs to a series by Hendrick Goltzius illustrating Ovid's Metamorphoses, specifically the 'Ages of Man.' It reflects the Renaissance philosophical interest in the cyclical nature of history and the moral decline of humanity, where the Bronze Age represents the moment mankind first turned toward organized warfare and technological conquest of the natural world.