Life is short, by Borja (1680)

Life is short, by Borja (1680)

The hand represented in the emblem is smalll and delicate, perhaps female,  to emphasize that the measure of a palm is small, just like life is, as indicated by the title in Latin (Vita Brevis "life is short"). The fragmentation of the body except for the few gendered organs, such as breasts, makes the the anatomized body parts, when presented by themselves, ambiguous regarding their gender attributes, making it possible to present them a male or female according to the needs, even as ambiguous

Borja, Juan de (1533-1606)

Emblem 19. Empresas morales de Don Juan de Borja, conde de Mayalde, y de Ficallo ("Moral enterprises of Mr. Juan de Borja, count of Mayalde, and of Ficallo") by Juan de Borja. Francisco de Borja (editor), Francisco Foppens (printer), Brussels (1680).

Found in Digital Library of Hispanic Emblems (Biblioteca Digital de Emblemática Hispánica):
https://www.bidiso.es/EmblematicaHispanica/FindConditionalDigitizedEmblemPage.do?action=Search&startIndex=2&count=3&first=1&author=Todos+los+autores&briefTitle=Todas+las+obras&startIndexEmblem=1&startIndexPage=1&mote=&moteCondition=Algunas&images=&imageCondition=&versesType=&strophe=&language=&keyCondition=Algunas&keys=muerte&authorityCondition=Algunas&authorities=&nameCondition=Algunas&names=

1680

Emblem.
Dimensions: Unknown