Category:The Thorny Path (1873) by Thomas Couture

The Thorny Path 

painting by Thomas Couture
Upload media
Instance of	painting
Made from material	oil paint canvas (painting support)
Location	Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Creator	Thomas Couture
Collection	Philadelphia Museum of Art
Inventory number	EW1986-10-1 (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Inception	1873
Width	75 in
Height	51.5 in
Authority file  Q12901025 Reasonator Scholia Wikidocumentaries PetScan statistics WikiMap Locator tool KML file Search depicted

http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/103016.html

he Thorny Path is Couture's satire of decadent French society. A courtesan drives a carriage pulled not by animals but by four male captives who represent different ages and states of society. The naked old man leading the procession is flabby from indulgence; the troubadour following him, a symbol of young love, parodies the medieval ballads popular in nineteenth century France. The old soldier bends his head in self-reproach, and the young student writes as he walks, symbolizing the educated nobility's ignorance of the realities of daily life. The thistles and thorny plants along the road suggest the painfulness of their journey. The decrepit figure seated at the rear of the carriage with a bottle of wine in her basket foreshadows the courtesan's future. Finally, Couture signed his initials on the stone figure at center, which seems to be laughing at the entourage.