When I was visiting my graduate school as a perspective student all those years ago, I had a free day to adventure through Washington DC. I was first introduced to DC a year prior and one of the sites that I didn’t get an opportunity to see was the  National Gallery of Art so I figured that this visit would be the opportune time to make a visit and take a tour of the museum. Now, this is not a review of the National Gallery of Art, however, if you have not been: GO! It’s gorgeous and you can spend enough time in the exhibits that you are interested in without seeing any of the ones you aren’t (even though it would be in your best interest to just take a quick peruse through all of the facility).

Following my tour, which was lovely (led by an elderly lady who was exceptionally knowledgeable of all of the art pieces covered throughout), I just went roaming through the building hoping to get lost among the masterpieces. I was the only one in this small section of rooms (and I don’t quite remember the theme of the area) but I remember entering this diagonal shape room that had four doorways entering into offshoots. This room had bright royal blue walls which were on a diagonal angle from doorway to the adjacent doorway. On these walls hung Thomas Cole’s The Voyage of Life quartet in magnificent gold frames.

It’s an understatement to say that I was utterly awestruck by these works. They were 52.5″ by 77.2″ in dimension, so clearly they are huge and breathtaking. The quartet is comprised of: Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. The first two are vibrant in color and the last two are dark and ominous with the color palette increasing of monotonous dark tones.

Seeing these paintings in person, I wanted to buy the prints and get them framed for my first apartment. Three years later they are still hanging prominently in my living room. All are in floating frames with dark brown wood with their title displayed under each work (see below).

Obviously, the prints are not as vibrant as the paintings, let alone the emphasis of a 6 foot painting compared to a 1 foot painting really cannot be compared. However, it was important for me to place these paintings in prominence in my apartment to remind me of life and its voyages and adventures. The themes of the painting were very important to me and you can definitely look into more information on the allegories and why Cole used the themes he did. For this post, I want to emphasize the Guardian Angel in each of the paintings as what was most significant to me.

In short, the action of the Guardian Angel is incredibly pivotal to each piece. In Childhood, the angel is in the boat with the child. This is to simulate the accompaniment of the angel with its designated child and overseeing what it does through childhood. Once one enters Youth, the angel departs the boat and stays at a fair distance from the youth, but is still close in proximity even though the youth is leaning away from the angel. In contrast, in Manhood, the angel is in heaven and is not accompanying the man on his journey now raging rapids. This notes that during adulthood, man is independent and doesn’t heavily rely on the angel no longer but travels through his own adventures. Lastly, in Old Age, the angel comes back to the elderly man and leads him toward the Kingdom of Heaven and a fellow angel which one can barely see in the far distance. Even though the angel deserted the man during manhood, the elderly can still be reunited with his guardian so that they can lead them to the afterlife.

Mentoring and guidance is crucial to these paintings and is something that I hold near and dear to my heart. I always take in advice from others (even when I disagree or agree with their stance) and hold them in esteem. It’s always wise to consider other people’s advice and weigh options on various issues, especially pertaining to life. Life can lead you on adventures, some good and some bad, but advice should always be welcomed. And even when you think your Guardian Angel has left your side, they will be with you again.

The following is the wikipedia link so that you can see all of the paintings and gather a bit more information about they symbology and significance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_Life