Thomas Cole is recognized as the father of American landscape painting. Born in Lancashire, England, at the age of eighteen he immigrated with his parents and settled in Ohio. There he received the rudiments of painting from itinerant artists and subsequently moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy. By 1825, he was in New York executing landscapes. His powerful depictions of the Hudson River soon attracted the attention of patrons, as well as other artists.

In 1839, Cole secured a commission for a monumental series titled The Voyage of Life, which he completed and exhibited the following year. The series presents an allegory of the four ages of man, unfolding as a journey along the river of life. By 1842, Cole completed a copy of the work in Rome. He exhibited it there and, upon his return to America, in Boston and Philadelphia. Accompanying it was a written guide interpreting each of the scenes. Its popularity prompted the production of the series as a set of steel engravings.

The first image, Childhood, introduces all the important story elements of the series: the voyager, the angel, the river, and the expressive landscape. An infant is safely shielded in a boat guided by an angel. The landscape is lush; everything is calm and basking in warm sunshine, reflecting the innocence and joy of childhood. The boat glides out of a dark, craggy cave which Cole himself described as “emblematic of our earthly origin, and the mysterious Past.” The river is smooth and narrow, symbolizing the sheltered experience of childhood. The figurehead on the prow holds an hourglass representing time.