# The Four Elements and Ages of Man: Fire and Childhood [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [LIEVENS, Jan]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on oak, 83 x 58 cm ## Commentary The Four Elements and Ages of Man: Fire and Childhood c. 1668 Oil on oak, 83 x 58 cm Staatliche Museen, Kassel This painting is part of a series of four representing the personification of the four elements and the four ages of man. The first painting of the series combines fire with childhood. A boy, cheeks puffed, is blowing on an ember so as to light a torch. The ember in the tongs and the young flame on the wick represent the only source of light. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 18 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/18\_cent/handel\_fireworks.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>George Frideric Handel: Fireworks Music</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [A Tronie]() - [Bearded Old Man with a Brown Cloak]() - [Bust of a Young Girl]() - [Head of an Old Man]() - [Jacob Receiving the Bloody Tunic of Joseph]() - [Old Man in Oriental Garb]() - [Pilate Washing his Hands]() - [Portrait of an Old Man]() - [Portrait of Ephraim Bueno]() - [Portrait of Petrus Egidius de Morrion]() - [Portrait of Poet Jan Vos]() - [Prince Charles Louis with His Tutor, as Alexander Instructed by Aristotle]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()