This moving essay by Bill Cook discusses how our perceptions change as we get older. His line discourse in this analysis was triggered by the painting “Triumph of Death” by Pieter Breugel, which depicts, well, Death triumphing over everyone no matter their status and is on display at The Prado in Madrid.

Last week I was in Madrid, Spain for the first time in 43 years, when I took a ‘vacation’ from my doctoral research in England and Czechoslovakia to explore the Iberian peninsula.

I was anxious to revisit several sights in Madrid but none more than the Prado Museum, one of the great art museums of the world. In three days, I went there twice (in part thanks to half-price admission for seniors) and saw some of my favorite paintings as well as some I did not know about in advance.

Image - “Triumph of Death” - Pieter Breugel