Max Ernst

Bill Brandt

1965

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The painting is a portrait of a young man shown slightly less than in bust-length. His head is turned slightly sideways, but he is looking directly at the viewer. He is wearing black dress with a high color with white lace trim and a black hat decorated with feathers and jewelry. His garment is buttoned with red, precious stones and he is wearing a a jewelled necklace.
A barn sits on a hill with a large tree growing beside it.
Horizontally arranged in two rows are the Seven Liberal Arts, each represented by a classically dressed woman with a symbol of her specialty, and below her, a historical figure famous in that field. From left to right there is: Arithmetic with Pythagoras; Geometry with Euclid; Music with Tubalcain; Astrology/Astronomy with Ptolemy; Logic with Aristotle; Rhetoric with Cicero; and Grammar with Priscian.
Andromeda stands nude with both arms chained to a bolder. Around her are scattered human bones and sea shells. Behind her Perseus fights the sea creature.