Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Art and Beauty Tuesday

Today's Art and Beauty Tuesday continues our look at the work of Thomas Cole. The second in his series of A Voyage of Life is Youth. In this painting, the confident young man leaves the guardian angel on the shore as he heads towards the ethereal "castle in the sky".

The large white structure dominates the upper left hand side of the painting, dwarfing the tiny angel, who, nevertheless, still glows with divine light.

The youth no longer notices the reality of the angel, seeing only his dreams.

4 comments:

TACParent said...

Wow. I'm not leaving my guardian Angel on the shore, that's for sure. I'm glad he is still surrounded by the angels that make up the boat. We are never truly alone -- even when we feel most lonely.

Staying in Balance said...

I think most of us do metaphorically leave our angels on the shore during our teen years and into young adulthood. They are still there, guarding us, but very often, we stop listening to them.

Barbara Schoeneberger said...

For sure, Dymphna, I quit listening to my angel for many years. How young and stupid I was trying to get through life on my own and trying to achieve my own "castles in the sky" without God. Now I wouldn't dream of ignoring my angel, but as the old saying goes, "We grow too soon old and too late smart." Better late than never, though. I'm looking forward to the next paintings in this series. Thanks for doing this.

Staying in Balance said...

May we always listen to our angels!

Dymphna's favorite quotes


"Slavery ended in medieval Europe only because the church extended its sacraments to all slaves and then managed to impose a ban on the enslavement of Christians (and of Jews). Within the context of medieval Europe, that prohibition was effectively a rule of universal abolition. "— Rodney Stark

my poetry on the web

Karumi Garden

Karumi Garden
my haiku