Father Time

This article is about the personification of time. For the weathervane at Lord's Cricket Ground, see Old Father Time. For other uses, see Father Time (disambiguation).
A 19th-century Father Time with Baby New Year
Detail of Father Time in the Rotunda Clock (1896) by John Flanagan, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
Father Time in Fountain of Time
Allegorical portrait of Elizabeth I with Old Father Time at her right in the background and Death at her left (dated around 1610)

Father Time is the anthropomorphized depiction of time.

Description

Father Time is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device (which represents time's constant one-way movement, and more generally and abstractly, entropy). This image derives from several sources, including the Grim Reaper and the misattribution of Cronus (not Chronos) as the Greek Titan of human time, reaping and calendars, or the Lord of Time.

Around New Year's Eve, the media (in particular editorial cartoons) use the convenient trope[1] of Father Time as the personification of the previous year (or "the Old Year") who typically "hands over" the duties of time to the equally allegorical Baby New Year (or "the New Year") or who otherwise characterizes the preceding year.[2][3] In these depictions, Father Time is usually depicted wearing a sash with the old year's date on it.

In popular culture

Father Time is an established symbol in numerous cultures, and appears in a variety of art and media. In some cases, they appear specifically as Father Time, while in other cases they may have another name (such as Saturn) but the characters demonstrate the attributes which Father Time has acquired over the centuries.

Art

Books

Business and industry

Comics, magazines and periodicals

Film and television

Music

Sculpture

See also

References

  1. Mike Luckovich Copyright 2010 Creators Syndicate. "Father time takes a beating – Foreign Relations Political and Editorial Cartoons". The Week. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  2. "The Father Time Comics and Cartoons – Cartoonist Group – Lisa Benson's Editorial Cartoons". Cartoonist Group. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  3. dePIXion studios www.depixion.com. "AAEC – Political Cartoons". Editorialcartoonists.com. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  4. "Museo Nacional del Prado: On-line gallery". Museodelprado.es. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  5. "Digital Collection of Classic Comic Strips". Comic Strip Library. 31 December 1905. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  6. "Digital Collection of Classic Comic Strips". Comic Strip Library. 29 December 1907. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  7. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Clock with Father Time". Metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  8. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Father Time on a Globe; Design for a Clock". Metmuseum.org. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-12.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Father Time.
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