In this painting cheetahs are allegoric symbols of the beauty and wild untamed life. The young haymaker represents the death. The murder of the haymaker by the cheetahs is a conceptual victory of short- lived beauty over the death. The cheetahs form a circle around their prey symbolising a clock. This stands for the expression of respect from the cheetahs (short-lived beauty) towards the victim. It is an acknowledgment that they are obedient of the time phenomenon. However, the temporary victory is more of a symbolic nature. We can say that it is a pagan ritual of life and death.