The Voyage of Life: Childhood

Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School, painted The Voyage of Life as a series of four allegorical paintings in 1842. This first painting, Childhood, shows an infant emerging from a dark cave on a golden boat, guided by an angelic figure.

The series follows a voyager through four stages of life: Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. Each painting uses landscape to symbolize the human experience. The lush vegetation and calm waters of Childhood give way to rapids in Manhood and peaceful seas in Old Age.

Cole created two versions of this series. The second set, now at the National Gallery of Art, is considered the finer of the two.