The painting background shows the emptiness of space in which the Big Bang explosion is illustrated posterior to the gates of humankind in the upper center. The creation of humankind is shown on the top of the gates of humankind as the first rise of humankind and thinking human being is seen right below this, representing this characteristic of our species. The first rise of humankind is shown at the gates of humankind in both male and female form. Both sides of the gates of humankind include human ancestors ranging from the Ardipithecus and Australopithecus species to more recent ancestors from the Homo species.
The center piece in the form of a black monolith is not the alien from the movie Space Odyssey 2001, but rather the symbol for the evolution of hominini intelligence since the human family separated from its chimpanzee cousins. Left to the monolith is the Australopithecus species touching the monolith, known as the last species before the emergence of Homo species. Right to the monolith is the Homo heidelbergensis species, with much higher intelligence, that also touches the monolith. It is recognized as being the last specie before the emergence of Homo sapiens.
The painting shows important species during the evolution of humankind. The first hominini specie that had come down from trees and is known for being bipedal is the Ardipithecus specie. The family of Ardipithecus species is seen to the right upper side of the monolith, but distant from it. The baby Ardipithecus is on the back of the mother, who is seen in side view as she is looking for food. The male form of Ardipithecus is seen in front view and left of the mother. The emergence of the Australopithecus specie from bipedal Ardipithecus is represented to the left of the monolith, as described previously. The Australopithecus species is known for being striding terrestrial bipedal, as seen in the painting.
The evolution of the Homo species from the Australopithecus species resulted in more human characteristics, but facial look of the first Homo species, Homo habilis, was still like that of an ape. The Homo habilis face and shoulder is seen surrounded by rocks and part of a cave, left of the Australopithecus specie. The more modern human body is seen as Homo ergaster evolved from Homo habilis. Homo ergaster soon evolved into Homo erectus, as seen as the most-right humanoid in the painting. He holds a spear in his right hand as he is trying to hunt. His erect figure is clearly seen from his profile view. Homo ergaster is depicted to the left of and slightly above Homo erectus. Some researchers consider Homo ergaster as the African Homo erectus.
A descendant of Homo ergaster/erectus known as Homo antecessor is seen left of Homo ergaster and is known for robust, humanlike features. The humanoid right of the monolith is a descendant of Homo antecessor and is called Homo heidelbergensis. Homo heidelbergensis had a larger brain size and had further evolved into different species, including Homo sapiens. It is believed that Homo heidelbergensis moved out of Africa 400,000 years ago and later evolved into Homo neanderthalensis, as seen in the painting as the most front left figure. Homo heidelbergensis who stayed in Africa evolved into Homo sapiens about 200,000 years ago. Multiple members of the Homo sapiens family are seen upfront in the painting having social interactions near a bonfire. Aside from fire, water and trees are shown in the painting to depict essentials for the human survival.
The left upper side of the painting shows a nebula, a blown up star that had formed atomic matter. The right upper side of the painting shows a black hole emitting immense radiation. Below the black hole on the right side of the painting, one sees the planet Saturn, and there is planet Earth that is seen amongst the Saturn rings on the left upper corner of the Saturn’s ring. This is how spacecraft Cassini depicted planet Earth behind Saturn.
