The Voyage of Life: Manhood
1842 · Oil on canvas · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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About this work
- Artist
- Thomas Cole (1801–1848)
- Year
- 1842
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 134.3 × 202.6 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Hudson River School
- Series
- The Voyage of Life
The third canvas of The Voyage of Life and the darkest. The boat is swept towards rapids and a chasm between black rocks under a stormy autumn sky; the voyager, a grown man, clasps his hands in prayer, while demonic forms gather in the clouds above and his guardian angel watches from a break in the sky, unseen by him. Cole meant the picture as the trial of middle age, in which faith alone sustains the traveller through self-doubt and the fury of nature. The series, a Christian allegory of the four ages, has also been read as a warning to a young America rushing westward. This is the second set, painted in Rome in 1841 and 1842 after a dispute kept the first from public view; it is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A boat swept toward rapids under a stormy autumn sky with demonic forms in the clouds, the darkest of the four, for a study, den or hallway at 24×16 or 36×24 in black. Charcoal, ochre or deep green; hang it third.
- Style
- Hudson River School painting
- Era
- 19th century (1842)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; oak lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Voyage of Life: Manhood in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Voyage of Life: Manhood painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
The full-bleed edition
The painting printed edge-to-edge at its own proportions, filling the whole sheet — and available on gallery-wrapped canvas.
