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Allegory of Old Age. Time and the Scholar

Unknown

1550

From the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst

Allegory

Dominant colour

Allegory of Old Age. Time and the Scholar is a 1550 by Unknown, held at Statens Museum for Kunst.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1550
Where can I see it?: Statens Museum for Kunst

About this work

This painting shows a group of people in a dimly lit room. A bearded man in red and brown stands in the center, holding a staff. To his left, two women sit—one in a white headscarf, the other in a brown robe. On the right, a man in an orange robe reads a book. The background has a dark, cloudy sky with faint figures. The standing man’s face is half-lit, while the rest of the scene stays shadowy. This lighting trick makes his skin look almost glowing compared to the darker figures around him. This style is called *chiaroscuro*—look that up next.