Thomas Cole's The Course of Empire

A visitor pauses before all five paintings

It had been ages since my last visit to the New York Historical Society, and returning to see Thomas Cole’s magnificent series, The Course of Empire, was well worth the wait. Displayed together, the five paintings trace the rise and fall of a civilization, from its earliest beginnings to its height of power, its violent destruction, and, finally, its abandonment to time and nature.

The Course of Empire: Consumption of Empire, ca. 1836

Each painting is remarkable in its own right, and seeing the complete cycle together never fails to impress. Unfortunately, my photographs of the first two works—The Savage State and The Arcadian State—did not turn out well, so I am sharing only The Consummation of Empire, Destruction, and Desolation. Together, the latter three paintings capture the grandeur, catastrophe, and haunting aftermath of Cole’s vision.

The Course of Empire: Destruction, 1836

More than a sequence of landscapes, The Course of Empire is a meditation on the recurring pattern of human civilization: its birth, ascent, triumph, decline, and eventual disappearance. Standing before these canvases, one cannot help but think of the cyclical view of history found in the writings of Giambattista Vico, Oswald Spengler, and others who believed that civilizations pass through recognizable stages of growth and decline. Cole’s masterpiece captures the enduring truth that no earthly empire, however magnificent, escapes the passage of time.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, July 12th, Feast of Santa Veronica

The Course of Empire: Desolation, 1836