' It seems as
though one day when Giorgione was musing on the beauties of the world,
and the blemishes of life, even life in Venice, he thought of some
far-off time beyond the dawn of history when all men lived in peace.
The ancient Greeks called this perfect time the 'Golden Age' of the
world. In many ways their idea of it tallies with the description of
the Garden of Eden, and they were always contrasting with it the 'Iron
Age' in which they thought they lived, as the Hebrews contrasted the
life of Adam and Eve in the garden with their own. As the fancy flashed
across Giorgione's mind, perchance he saw some just king of whom his
subjects felt no fear seated upon a throne like this. A dreamy youth
plays soft music to him, and another hands him flowers and fruit. Books
lie strewn upon the steps, and a child stands in a reverent attitude
before him. Wild and domestic animals live together in harmony; the
ground is carpeted with flowers; all is peaceful. Such a subject suited
the temperament of Giorgione, and he painted it in the romantic mood
in which it was conceived. Nothing could be further from everyday life
than this little scene.
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