3-035-561 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Arcadian Shepherds, about 1655. Additional Info: Two Arcadian shepherds with coarse features discover a tomb inscribed with the words "Temporalis Æternitas", alluding to the brevity or frailty of human life. The subject, one that Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione had borrowed from Poussin a decade earlier, was meant to remind viewers that time brings oblivion even to the highest achievements of humankind. An assortment of objects lying on the ground at the left - statues, musical instruments, a seashell, books, and armour - symbolize human accomplishments that have begun to crumble into ruin.