In Old Age in Art, he explores the impact of a long life on the work of artists like Michelangelo, as well as the portrayal of advanced age in Western art over time. Physical signs of aging — baldness, wrinkles, stooped postures — first figured prominently in Roman portraiture in the 4th century BCE, but old age and its representations have often been pushed to the margins. Jerome” (1521), old age can connote wisdom, experience, and prudence. Conversely, the physical and cognitive decline of old age may be tied to a kind of moral decay. It’s curious, then, that one chapter of Old Age in Art makes a passing mention to Japanese and Chinese art, with a single paragraph dedicated to each, before promptly returning to Europe and, though to a lesser degree, the United States.