Art of the Week #2: The Stages of Life
a reminder of the fundamental human condition
Caspar David Friedrich’s The Stages of Life (1835) presents a serene yet deeply symbolic landscape reflecting on the immutable human fact of aging. At first, the scene appears little more than a tranquil Romantic painting: a harbor at dusk, calm waters, and a family ashore.
But the painting subtly transforms into a meditation on life’s progression. Each …
