The Age of Bronze

A central armored woman stands atop a hill, holding a tall spear and overlooking a valley where laborers construct massive stone fortresses. On the ground at her feet lies a heap of discarded weapons, including swords and a mace, while in the background, a ship sails on the water. The scene captures the transition from a state of nature to one of human industry, architecture, and the tools of war.

This work belongs to a series illustrating the decline of humanity through the four world ages as described in Ovid's 'Metamorphoses.' The concept of cyclical history and the descent from a Golden Age was central to Renaissance Neoplatonic and Hermetic interpretations of human morality and the Great Year.