The Course of Empire is a series of five paintings created by Thomas Cole and The series of paintings depicts the growth and fall of an imaginary city.
The first painting,The Savage, depicts the ideal state of the natural world. It is a healthy world, unchanged by humanity.
The second painting The Arcadian or Pastoral State, shows humanity at peace with the land.
The third painting, The Consummation of Empire, shifts the viewpoint to the opposite shore, approximately the site of the clearing in the first painting. The look of the painting suggests the height of Ancient Rome. The decadence seen in every detail of this cityscape foreshadows the inevitable fall of this mighty civilization.
In the fourth painting, Destruction, it seems that a fleet of enemy warriors has overthrown the city's defenses, sailed up the river, and is busy ransacking the city and killing its inhabitants.
The fifth painting, Desolation, shows the results decades later. This gloomy picture suggests how all empires could be after their fall. It is a harsh possible future in which humanity has been destroyed by its own hand.
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