The seven paintings in Pat Hanly's The Seven Ages of Man were commissioned by Hamish Keith in 1975 for the then-new Medical School 'Link' building in Auckland, where they have been ever since, one on each floor.

They have never before been exhibited publicly or seen together, but have now been brought together for their gallery debut while extensive building refurbishment takes place at the University.

Hanly's suite of work references Shakespeare's "all the world's a stage" monologue from As You Like It, and coincides with a period of self-discovery he began with his Who Am I?/I Am/Do It works at the start of the 1970s, culminating with the Golden Age series. 

It was also during this period that he completed a number of major commissions, including murals for the Christchurch Town Hall (1971) and the Auckland International Airport (1977).