In this pastel Hirschl creates an allegory of the transition to the new year; an angelic female figure with a feathered broom sweeps away the memories of the previous year (lower left) while being idolized by the future events of the new year (lower right).

Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl was a Hungarian artist famous for his historical and mythological painting with a specific focus on ancient Rome.

Some of his most important work has unfortunately been lost, while many of his smaller works were jealously guarded by his heirs until the early 1980s, even though he was one of the most successful artists in fin-de-siècle Vienna.

Hirémy-Hirschl was born in Temesvár, then in Hungary, on 31 January 1860, but he moved to Vienna to study art at an early age, winning a grant to attend the Akademie der bildenden Künste in 1878.

He won a prize in 1880 that allowed him to spend time in Rome.

His time in Rome had a major influence on his artistic output. On his return to Vienna, he produced a large and highly acclaimed, though sadly now lost, canvas entitled The Plague in Rome (1884).

He became a member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome in 1911.