15 heartwarming family portraits across 5 generations reveal their inner beauty

The beauty of human nature is revealed in that which is inherited. Here are 15 family photos that cross generations, and show how the bond of family transcends time.

While many people today are interested in rediscovering their family roots, and enjoy looking at nostalgic old black and white photos of their ancestors, wondering about their lives; some folks are lucky enough to have their grandparents, great-grandparents or even their great-great-grandparents still walking around on this earth.

Here we have compiled a photo album that crosses as many as 5 generations, and shows us a common thread of familial devotion that transcends time, and is part of our universal human nature. Perhaps we may gain some insight or tacit wisdom from such pictures—from the expressions, gestures, and the spirit of relationship that is somehow apparent to us. Please enjoy!

1. Just one big, happy family

2. Five generations of ladies from 1986

 3. Four generations under the one roof

 4. Alice celebrates her 100th birthday and the arrival of her great-great-granddaughter.

5. Four generations of royal women: Queen Victoria, Princess Beatrice, Princess Victoria of Hesse, and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

6. Great-great-grandma to great-great-grandson

 8. Great-great-grandma to great-great-granddaughter

 9. Three generations of… lumberjacks? 1988

 10. Four generations of shirts and collars

12. Four men and a baby

13. Three generations of men and media

14. Four generations of beauty

15. Four generations of family, framed through time