The Voyage of Life: Old Age
Thomas Cole, 1842
The water is ocean. The boat is broken. An angel is finally close. The trip ends with light, not land. You do not dock. You are met.
About this work
Old Age is the last of the four paintings in Thomas Cole's The Voyage of Life, his allegory of the stages of human life, and it is an image of death. Cole painted the series in 1840 and repeated it with minor changes in 1842; this second set is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the first is in Utica, New York. In each painting a voyager travels the River of Life in a boat with his guardian angel. Through Childhood, Youth and Manhood the river has carried him from a cave into a sunlit valley and through rapids. Now the man has grown old and the river has flowed out into the dark waters of eternity. The figurehead and hourglass are gone from the battered boat, and only a few rough rocks mark the edge of the earthly world. In the sky an angel descends from heaven while the guardian angel hovers close, pointing toward it. Cole wrote of the scene: "The chains of corporeal existence are falling away; and already the mind has glimpses of Immortal Life." The series was popular during the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening and was widely reproduced as engravings by James Smillie.
Sources: Wikipedia: The Voyage of Life · National Gallery of Art
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 5,100 × 3,431 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 34 × 22 in
- Sizes
- Small (20 × 13 in) · $100 · 255 ppi
Medium (24 × 16 in) · $150 · 212 ppi
Large (36 × 24 in) · $300 · 142 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of The Voyage of Life: Old Age?
Here. The Voyage of Life: Old Age is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (20 × 13 in) for $100, Medium (24 × 16 in) for $150 and Large (36 × 24 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for The Voyage of Life: Old Age?
The file is 5,100 × 3,431 px. Medium (24 × 16 in) is the largest size that prints at 150 ppi or more (212 ppi), the sharpest choice for close viewing; Large (36 × 24 in) prints at 142 ppi, fine from a few feet away but softer up close.
Is it legal to print The Voyage of Life: Old Age?
Yes. The Voyage of Life: Old Age is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
