Explore Thomas Cole

Compare

• 1.The Pilgrim of the Cross at the End of His Journey
• 2.Innes, The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Thomas Cole, Pilgrim of the Cross, oil on canvas, c.1846-47, 12 x 18 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Museum purchase, 1965.10. View in Virtual Gallery

Cole began attending St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Catskill after his marriage to Maria Bartow in 1836, and this event marked a turning point in his religious life. At this time he began sketching ideas for The Voyage of Life. In 1844, the Reverend Louis Legrand Noble baptized his good friend Cole, signifying the artist's official acceptance of the Church and his commitment to Christianity. Soon thereafter, Cole began work on his last major allegorical series, The Cross and the World, left unfinished due to his untimely death in 1848. Noble said of the series, "While it reflects the religion of the Incarnate Son, it is also a reflection of himself—of Cole, the Christian, including all his past and future Christian experience." ¹  In The Cross and the World, Cole explored themes similar to those in The Voyage of Life—a pilgrim makes a spiritual journey in which he has to choose between God (the Cross) and sin and temptation (the World). Compositionally, the two paintings are very similar. In The Pilgrim of the Cross, Cole makes his message even more explicit by including a cross made of light in the clouds, a sign of redemption for the weary traveler. ²