Life stairs

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Man's Life Stairs
(around 1850)
De trap des levens - stairs of life by Cornelis Anthonisz. (around 1550)

Life stairs , also called age levels or age levels , are - mostly drawn - representations of the course of human life.

description

Life stairs were very popular from the 17th century. Based on the seventh year of life ( Hebdomads ) introduced by Solon , the human life course was mostly divided and presented in ten stages of ten years each. In many cases, the climax of life was set at the fifth decade, as it was assumed that at this age man “comes closest to perfection”. Before the course of life was represented in the form of stairs, circles, wheels and trees were the usual symbolism in art. This form then changed more and more into a linear process. The first secured representations date from 1540 by Jörg Breu the Younger and Cornelis Anthonisz. In the course of the following centuries the motifs and representations changed constantly. The first depictions of life stairs were initially strongly religious and were increasingly replaced by motifs from everyday life. Life stairs were painted for both sexes. The life stairs had their heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries. With the beginning of the First World War until after the end of the Second World War , these representations largely disappeared.

A well-known painter of stairs to life was Fridolin Leiber .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Lebenstreppe  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files