Cole – Life, Death and Immortality

Is it sunrise or sunset? Probably both – artistic licence allows multiple viewpoints and the passage of a lifetime in one painting.

The young girl on the right picks flowers – their delicate petals symbolising her own ephemeral beauty. The early morning sun highlights her hair and makes her dress shine. Full of hope, she looks forward to all that her day will bring, basking in its new light.

All too soon the flowers must be put to one side as, with her hair now tied back, she puts her shoulder into the work of the day. With toil and a focus on her tasks, she bows as the weight of her responsibilities drive her ever forward, every moment filled and much to be done.

And before she knows it, the sun begins to set. She dresses in dark clothes of mourning, her hair loosed again, as she holds up an hourglass whose sands have began to run out. A dark sky is presaging the night to come, as the final grains fall through the hourglass and immortality beckons.