Conjectures about the “man without attributes” ( f85r2 )

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Here again is the classification of the ages (Aldebrandin de Sienne very probably refers to Avicenna, as he mentions him in a text passage):

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Dante adopted from Hippocrates and Avicenna the division into four stages of life, which correspond to the seasons: According to this model, youth comprises the period from birth to the age of 25 (childhood, adolescence), adulthood begins at 25 and ends at 45, old age ends at 70 [sic] and is followed by senility.

The Canon of Medicine ( Avicenna ), Volume 1, page 68 / 51.
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Hippocrates, the first physician, proposed a four-stage scheme: childhood, youth, maturity, and old age. For Hippocrates, the four stages of life corresponded to the organization of other aspects of the natural world based on the number four: the four bodily humors (black bile, phlegm, yellow/red bile, and blood); the four qualities (hot, dry, cold, and moist); the four elements (air, fire, earth, and water), and the four seasons.

Arnett, J. J. (2016). Life Stage Concepts across History and Cultures: Proposal for a New Field on Indigenous Life Stages. Human Development, 59(5), 290–316. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Contrary to the statistics, according to which the average life expectancy was less than 50 years, there were also very old people in the Middle Ages. However, the high infant mortality rate and fatal diseases made them statistically “invisible”.

   
This illustration entitled “The four ages of men” probably dates from the early 15th century ( British Library, Royal MS 17 E III,  f.80).