Vespian and his son, Titus, were renowned for their military conquests in the East, culminating with the capture of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The rotunda above the city walls in the background may possibly be identified as the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.

A tapestry woven by Jan Frans van den Hecke (d. 1653) with virtually identical borders depicting Earth and Fire from The Four Elements is illustrated in H. Göbel, Tapestries of the Lowlands, 1924, fig. 307.