In my ongoing series on beautiful things, I wanted to high-light a series of paintings created by Thomas Cole. Not only do I think each of the paintings individually are beautiful in their own right, but I also find the series and its theme to be powerful and captivating. The series is entitled: "The Course of an Empire". In it, Cole attempts to capture snapshots of the stages a civilization goes through as it develops, reaches its pinnacle, declines, and eventually disappears. Here are the five paintings:
"The Savage State"
"The Pastoral State"
"Consummation"
"Destruction"
"Desolation"
I hesitate to say too much, because such beauty is better experienced than dissected, but I have always loved "The Savage State" in particular. There is something wild and chaotic about it that captivates me. The dark and bold colors make me think of the chaos out of which God created the order of the universe. As with all wilderness, there is an ominous feeling that something dangerous could happen at any moment. The dark clouds lend to that sentiment.
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