The Passage of Time

Paris is one of those places in which wherever you are you can find an unexpected and impressive piece of architecture that you'll not find mentioned on any main guide (Vienna is another place where I have experienced this on a regular basis).

In my last visit this May I was walking along Boulevard Raspail (for Paris standards this is just one more Boulevard), enjoying the beautiful building facades, when I came across (at number 276) with an amazing depiction of the passage of time at a human scale, a passionate reminder of the joys and pains of our short existences. The shared existence of a couple is summarized in 3 pivotal moments.

First, the young couple is committed to ardent love:

Then the couple enjoys the fruits of their love:

And finally, the pain and sorrow of the moment when this shared existence gets truncated:

I love these reminders of our short lasting nature, all of a sudden they could seem to ruin a pleasant walk, but indeed it prompts me to enjoy its unique character, with the uncertainty of the next steps, with the certainty an end waiting somewhere, an end that can not be avoided but will be less painful the more we do of the path to it.

This beautiful work reminds me of the amazing paintings by Paul J. Gervais in Le Capitole of Toulouse. Again three moments in a lifetime. The author chose a rather less tragic representation, as it does not portray death, but love at 20, at 40 and at 60 years.