ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the important role of images depicting the well-being of older people. The focus is on two opposing ways in which they are visually represented: low and high well-being. Ageing is placed in a historical perspective from antiquity to the early modern period by exploring their historical roots in texts. This is followed by a specific historical and social semiotic analysis of the visual representation of low and high well-being related to older people, with an emphasis on the analysis of visual signs, focusing on the use of resources for their production, distribution, and consumption of communicative artefacts. This made it possible to get insight into the impact of historical images on the construction of older persons’ low and high well-being discourses in today’s society and their daily life.
