Vatican Museums

In the absence of information on the characters, any attempt at identification is in vain. At the left a seated woman is depicted, indicating a point “outside the field” to a child, captured perhaps in the act of writing and drawing and who seems to turn with a certain slowness or hesitation. The pose of the woman is natural and composed in the torsion of her legs, shoulders and head. Her robe is pink, with lilac shadows, edged with yellow and bound at the waist with a light green sash; a cloak, also deep yellow, is folded over her arm. Her head is bound with a strange multi-coloured headdress: ultramarine, vermilion, and yellow with green and orange streaks.
At the right, turning towards the spectator, there is a mature and solitary man, his face furrowed with deep lines, immersed in a thoughtful expression. Wrapped in a yellow ochre cape, one arm has a green sleeve, painted dry, in strong contrast to the dominant colour. The body, modelled with great power from the play between lights and shade, stands out clearly against the background, whereas his face, in the background, is rendered with rapid lines and brushstrokes with colour reduced to the minimum.