Van Loon would draw small scenes which would depict an important event or moment in time and juxtapose these alongside other such scenes as a way to show change through time or to draw comparisons across time and space. Thus, in three panels van Loon shows the growth of Rome, or compares the “great moral leaders” in a series of small panels, each figure placed within a specific physical context (Moses on the mountain, Zarathustra in the desert, Christ crucified).