The Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or Spring

The Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or Spring

Bernard van Orley

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the first of a set of four tapestries illustrating the life of a man as divided into twelve periods of six years. Venus, in the center, stands for the springtime of life; the symbols and occupations of three months, January, February, and March, represent the years from birth to eighteen. The stories show Moses, as a child, choosing a burning coal instead of a piece of gold; a Roman boy, Papirius, explaining to the Senators how he had tricked his mother in order to conceal their secrets; and the youthful Alexander astonishing the Persian ambassadors by his shrewdness.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or SpringThe Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or SpringThe Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or SpringThe Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or SpringThe Twelve Ages of a Man: The First Three Ages (Birth-18), or Spring

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.