Winter, from a set of ornamental designs with allegories of the seasons and grotesques

Engraving, part of a group of four ornamental designs with grotesque motifs, from a series of six designs with allegorical representations of the seasons, created by Marc Duval. The design consists of two grotesque centaurs, sitting on a shell motif on the lower part of the print, each with a monstrous creature standing on their shoulders. With horse body, bat wings, and dragon-like, humanoid faces, they hold in their mouths trophies made up of musical instruments. Their tails, made up of scrolling branches, extend diagonally towards the upper corners of the print, and are flanked by winged, nude female torsos, which stand in front of two falcons, pulling strips of fabric from their mouths, and holding a sort of canopy that stands above the dragon heads. The falcons stand on scrolling branches, which flank the upper part of a third canopy, on the center of the print, from which hangs an ox skull. The inscription suggests that this is a representation of winter, although the motifs in the print, which include falcons, musical instruments, an ox skull, and two butterflies, seem closer to an allusion of the spring.