Antonius Gerardus,

In the middle panel there is a main character located, the man with the hat and cigar. On the table we see a tortuous branch that symbolizes the life of the figure. His right hand is located on the branch. It divides the future from the past and occupies the present. The figure has reached a moment of reviewing the past and peeks over his shoulder with its body facing the future. It is a crucial moment since his legs are already in movement to make a risky step into an abyss from which he does not know the deepness. By reviewing his past, he is deciding the depth of this abyss. In the time the figure finds himself, there is not yet a case of an optimistic vision of the future. But in its retrospective state, he is trying to find the right step to make.