THE GOLDEN AGE

摘要

In the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, a city surrounded by the Bavarian forest, resides a painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) titled The Golden Age (c 1530). Here, naked figures transport themselves in a garden redolent of Eden; a single tree acts as a maypole around which the folk gambol naked; the lion lies down with the fawn; the vines are heavy, fruit and flowers abound. A high brick wall keeps them safe from the world beyond, where castles perched on cliff tops speak of external strife and politics. The concept of the Golden Age derives from Greek mythology, the first of five ages of man, where he lives in harmony with nature and his surroundings.