This theme is repeated in the animal heads: an animal with three heads (wolf, lion, dog) to represent the passage of time (past, present, future) is associated with Serapis in Macrobius's Saturnalia, and associated with Apollo by Petrarch, and the iconography is repeated for example in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili of Francesco Colonna (1499), the Hieroglyphica of Pierio Valeriano (1556), and the Iconologia of Cesare Ripa (1643).

[4] Erwin Panofsky, in his classic exposition, suggests that the painting is specifically related to the negotiations associated with the passing on of Titian's property to the younger generations, in the light of his approaching death.

Nicholas Penny is, however, highly sceptical of this, and points out discrepancies between the human heads and other evidence of the individuals' appearance.

[7] At the other extreme, the painting has been explained as asserting that the prudence which comes with experience and old age is an essential aspect of artistic discrimination and judgement.

On a more general level, the painting's depiction of Titian with his assistants Orazio and Marco is also intended as a defence of the prudence of the continuity of the Venetian workshop tradition.