By chance, yes the same way I find all art, I stumbled upon the landscapes of Thomas Cole. His art is marvelous, even for one like me who is seldom moved by nature. Everyone of us is inspired by different things in life, some see nature, others religion, others technology. When it comes to the achievements of humanity there is no shortage of things to marvel at. I happen to be someone who finds inspiration mainly from the marvels of the past; the history of civilization.
Thomas Cole was one of the first landscapists of the newly born American republic. A land known to its natives, but not to its colonizers. Thus I regard Cole as an explorer, someone who rediscovered, for his people the land surrounding the Hudson valley. In that regard I see similarities between him and Gerome’s work.
Beyond landscaping, Cole’s work features historical elements, and it is on that which I want to focus. The Course of Empire, arguably Cole’s masterwork, has strong neoclassical elements. In this five part artwork he portrays the rise and fall of an empire. A made up empire, yet one that resembles a Greco-Roman thalassocracy.
The Commencement of the Empire
The first painting features a mostly savage land. Mostly a landscape, where only a small camp of huts, and some humans wearing skins while they hunt display the only signs of civilization. A pair of canoes being the only sign of thalassa. A small mount featured on the center of the composition, will remain throughout the series as the one constant feature.
The Arcadian
Settlers are now wearing fabrics, a more elaborate clothing than animal skins. Domestication of animals has occurred, a man plows the land, agriculture has been discovered, arguably the most important discovery humanity has found. Shipbuilding can be seen as well, and a small port with a few vessels on the water. An elder man stands out to me, he is drawing something on the floor. Was he an early philosopher? Maybe even a polymath? Religion has been invented, the only stone construction is that of a temple, a fire burns inside of it. Followers of Zoroaster perhaps? Lastly to the right, people enjoying life. This colony seems a happy one, prosperous, peaceful. The same mount is featured, yet in a not so prominent position.
The Consummation of Empire
An evolution from a pastoral colony to a bursting metropolis. A trading empire no less, a harbor full of ships, indisputably a powerful thalassocracy. Even with war galleys docked to the left, I still feel this scene could be remnant of the Minoans. Decadence is in full display, riches beyond measure, a celebration of some sort, maybe a parade has people spectating from the terraces of the temple to the left. Two gold statues adorned with a purple fabric, below a parade goes through. In ancient times purple dye was a luxurious commodity, a nice detail to the scene. This scene is magnificent, simply magnificent. Is this it? Has perfection been achieved? Could you display this level of decadence if it wasn’t so? Long live the thalassocracy!
Destruction
A sobering scene without a doubt. Ships burn, the city as well. Have the sea peoples come to destroy civilization? Regardless of who it was, this spells nothing but doom. A woman cries to the statue of a soldier with a shield, behind her an attacker grabs her by the hair. To the left a woman choses to throw herself to the water instead of being trapped by her attacker. Dead bodies everywhere, one can only try to guess what happened, where did things went wrong? However, this is nothing but a reminder of how normal is for empires to fall. The law of gravity states that everything that goes up, will come back down.
Desolation
Tranquility, nature takes back what belongs to her. No human can be seen in this composition, a few birds stand below the remains of the once mighty bridge. The ruins of the temple to the left. A pillar being the main focus of the painting, a bird has its nest on top of it. The same mount present in all five paintings still stands. The empire forgotten by time. Civilization is fragile. Even those civilizations that have some sort of claim to longevity have reborn multiple times. Empires rise, Empires fall; Some reborn, others die for good. Nothing lasts forever.