Ages of life, aesthetics, and art

The paper aims to clarify the two notions whose relationship is thematized in the expression “Art and ages of life”. First, it introduces to the various age-systems developed along the history of Europe and compares them with two other classifications of life courses : “age group” and “biological cycle”. The second part of the paper highlights the distinction between art and aesthetics, before exploring how the question of the ages of life can further our understanding of artistic creation and aesthetic reception.