The Steps of Life

Wheel of the ten ages of man — The Deity in the centre, from which radiate ten spokes of a wheel, each ending in circular medallions illustrating the ten ages of man. Infancy, boyhood, adolescence, young manhood, and maturity represented by a king. The decline, illustrated with an old man with cane, being led by a child, attended by a doctor, his funeral, and tomb. Four figures in the corners representing infancy, youth, old age, and decrepitude. Circa 1310, from Arundel 83, f.126v, Psalter of Robert de Lisle — Source.

Life stages from infancy to old age with various accoutrements, an illustration in circa 15th-century manuscript —Source.

The ten ages of man, woodcut, circa 1482 — Source.

Die Lebensalter des Mannes, circa 1540, a woodcut by Jörg Breu the Younger — Source.

Woodcut by Cornelis Anthonisz, circa 1550 — Source.

Ages of Man, late 16th century — Source.

Der Welt Lauff und alter Gebrauch (die Lebensalter des Mannes), by Abraham Bach der Ältere, circa 1651 — Source.

"As in a map here man may well perceive, how tyme creeps on til death his life bereave" , circa late 17th century — Source.

Ages of Man, Spanish copperplate print, circa 1750 — Source.

The female 'steps of life', a woodcut by Baltasar Talamantes, late 18th century — Source.

Steps of life for a couple by Swedish artist Winter Carl Hansson, 1799 — Source.

Early 19th-century Dutch/French print — Source.

De trap des ouderdoms; published by Glenisson en Zonen, date unknown — Source.

The various ages and degrees of human life explained by these twelve different stages, published by John Pitts, London 1811 — Source.

The Rise and Fall of Napoleon, in the style of 'Steps of Life' image, by Johann Michael Voltz, 1814 — Source.

The Life and Age of Man, 1829 — Source.

The Stages of Life, broadside published by James Catnach, London circa 1830 — Source.

Steps of life (Ages of man), Finnish woodcut by G. O. Wasenius, 1831 — Source.

The seven ages of man, a William Cole print, early to mid 19th century — Source.

The Drunkard’s Progress; Step 1. A glass with a friend. Step 2. A glass to keep the cold out. Step 3. A glass too much. Step 4. Drunk and riotous. Step 5. The summit attained. Jolly companions. A confirmed drunkard. Step 6. Poverty and disease. Step 7. Forsaken by Friends. Step 8. Desperation and crime. Step 9. Death by suicide; a Nathaniel Currier print, 1846 — Source.

The seven Stages of the Office Seeker, by Edward Williams Clay, 1852. A satire on patronage and corruption in New York State politics. Here the seven stages are illustrated as key points in the life and career of a political hack — Source.

Dobbins' Electric Soap (As You Like It). Advertising cards, 1881 — Source.

'Das Stufenalter der Frau', Chromolithograph, circa 1900 — Source.