To the left are symbols of worldly activity – a globe and charts, musical instruments, a hunting dog with a dead hare. In a related painting the men are identifiable as Mars, god of war, reclining on a breastplate, and Time, leaning against a tomb. Both drawing and painting probably mark the birth in 1652 of the son of Carlo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, who had reportedly befriended Castiglione in Rome a few years earlier. An allegory on the limits of temporal power would have been understood as central to a prince’s education.