Sentence:  Depicted , Cubist flatness is <WSD>now</WSD> almost completely assimilated to the literal , undepicted kind , but at the same time it reacts upon and largely transforms the undepicted kind - and it does so , moreover , without depriving the latter of its literalness ; rather , it underpins and reinforces that literalness , re-creates it . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events