The Golden Age, Adriaen van de Velde, 1664

pen, h 164mm × w 252mm More details

This drawing illustrates a passage from the Metamorphoses by the Latin author Ovid, a hefty poem describing the creation of the world and the history of man. During the Golden Age man lived in a paradisiacal world eating fruits from trees and bushes. Neither discord and anger, nor crime and punishment existed there.