The Four Ages of Man...or what is life all about anyway? Ultimate Issues Sunday

In an earlier post I proclaimed the following..."What does it profit a man ( woman ) if they gain the world and lose their Soul?" What will man exchange for fame , recognition , power , glory , money , status etc. I have been haunted by this statement by Jesus for a long long time. In fact many artists have depicted Christ in the desert as he meditates after 40 days and nights on his purposeful mission.

Are the Romans correct when they boasted their worldview maxim " Eat and Drink today for tomorrow we die"? Should I just look out for #1 and go the way of the Hedonists and partake in a Bacchinalian Lifestyle? How does art come into play? Have I deluded myself and really put Art above God? Do I really worship and give sacrifices at the Altar of ART ( Career )? Does my Life as an artist really have any meaning?

One view of this is profoundly illustrated by the late Renaissance painter Le Valentin. I remember staring and staring at this painting at the National Gallery in London. What is Le Valentin trying to say? What is his existentialist statement? Despair?

At the bottom is a child in an almost trancelike state holding some type of wooden cage. Will he trap something? Or has something escaped?Is the artist trying to imply that childhood is running after objects to be contained and yet never really owning anything? Is this the Peter Pan symdrome ? Is that why the cage is open? Could it be that childhood is never content and the dream of eternal lack of care is fleeting?

To his left is the man presumably at the age of courtship. He is dazzleing in his dress and is holding a form of guitar playing some tune of love maybe? His hat is cocked off to the side with several feathers attached. His gaze is focused and appears to me to have the look a young man gives as he evaluates his prospects. He is hopeful and alert and his beard is smartly manicured. This stage of life is seen as full of poetry and music and self assuredness.

To the right of the painting we see our lad now in the later years of his maturity. His gaze is downcast and he has been in the battle so to speak. Yet he now props up his head and has a book opened and is contemplating what he has read. Or maybe the book is a metaphor for knowledge and Wisdom . Has he lost confidence? Is he reevaluating his Life decisions and Worldview? ? His beard is longer and he wears a red sash and victory garland around the crown of his head. He should be happy and triumphant but the artist has not depicted him this way. Is this realistic or pessimistic? What is the point of Triumph at the end of the Day? Vanity of Vanities? Grasping after Air? To be or not to be as Hamlet stated?

Finally he is on the last chapter of his life. His beard is untrimmed and grey and his gaze seems to be lost somewhere else. He holds a glass of wine with his left hand while he grasps the neck of the wine bottom with his other hand? Is this the end of man? Futility. Beaten by Life? Pointless? Drunkeness and self medication?

Art can be a powerful tool to make us think and ponder the BIG questions. I don't buy into Le Valentins pessimistic worldview but there are times I feel this way.

to be continued next Sunday.....any thoughts PN?