The Voyage of Life: Old Age
c. 1855
Printer, American, 1828 - 1901
Publisher, American, 1832 - 1901
Artist, American, born Scotland, 1807 - 1885

Artwork overview
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Medium
engraving in black on wove paper
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
image: 37.94 × 57.79 cm (14 15/16 × 22 3/4 in.)
sheet (trimmed to plate): 50.48 × 67.47 cm (19 7/8 × 26 9/16 in.) -
Accession
2015.19.341
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Mrs. L. W. Casey; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1930; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art
Associated Names
Bibliography
1986
Schweizer, Paul D. "'So Exquisite a Transcript': James Smillie's Engravings after Cole's Voyage of Life". Imprint 11, no. 2 (Autumn 1986), pp. 2-13.
2017
Raftery, Andrew. "James Smillie Engraves a Voyage of Life". Art in Print 7, no. 2 (July-August 2017), pp. 12-18.
Inscriptions
text at bottom in plate:
Painted by Thomas Cole / Boston - Published by B. B. Russell 55 Cornhill / Engraved by James Smillie / The Voyage of Life _ Old Age. / From the original Painting by Thomas Cole, in the possession of Revd. Gorham D. Abbott, Spingler Institute, New York. / "While through this changing world we roam, / From Infancy to Age, / Heaven is the christian Pilgrim's home, / His rest, at every Stage / A beam from Heaven is sent to cheer / The christian on his road, / And angels are attending near, / To bear him home to God." / "The world recedes, _it disappears! / Heaven opens on my eyes! my ears / With sounds seraphic ring! / Lend, lend your wings! I mount, I fly! / O Grave, where is thy victory? / O Death, where is thy sting?" / Proof / "Entered according to Act of Congress U.S.A. _ by James Smillie in the Clerks Office of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York." / Printed by J. H. Daniels, Boston.
Wikidata ID
Q77012642