
by Thomas Cole, 1842
In Youth, the second painting of Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life series, the voyager has grown into a young man who now takes the helm himself. The guardian angel watches from the shore as the youth steers toward a fantastical castle in the sky.
Cole uses the dream-like castle to represent youthful ambition and unrealistic expectations. The calm river and blooming landscape suggest the confidence of youth before life's challenges emerge. The rocky rapids ahead, visible to viewers but not to the young voyager, foreshadow the trials of Manhood.
This painting exemplifies the Hudson River School's blend of naturalistic American landscape with moral allegory drawn from European Romanticism.

Thomas Cole
Private Collection, Unknown

Thomas Cole
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, New Britain

Thomas Cole
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford

Thomas Cole
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford
![Gian Federico Madruzzo Oil Canvas Giovanni Battista[1] by Giovanni Battista Moroni](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Giovanni_Battista_Moroni%2C_Gian_Federico_Madruzzo%2C_c._1560%2C_NGA_46051.jpg)
Giovanni Battista Moroni
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Edgar Degas
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Bronzino
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Berthe Morisot
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Other masterpieces from the Romanticism movement

Francisco Goya, 1823
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Eugène Delacroix, 1834
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Francisco Goya, 1814
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Francisco Goya, 1800
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Francisco Goya, 1823
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Eugène Delacroix, 1827
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Francisco Goya, 1800
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

J.M.W. Turner, 1839
National Gallery, London
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