vanitas

(noun)

A type of still life painting, symbolic of mortality and characteristic of Dutch painting in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Related Terms

  • Pronkstilleven

Examples of vanitas in the following topics:

  • Flemish Painting in the Baroque Period

    • Still life paintings often had an underlying moralistic message concerning the brevity of life, a trait exemplified by the "vanitas."
    • A vanitas is a symbolic still life painting that is meant to illustrate the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transience of all earthly pursuits.
    • Vanitas paintings were very popular in 17th century Flemish and Dutch work, and they often depict symbols such as skulls, flowers, rotting fruit, clocks, watches, smoke, and hourglasses, all of which are meant to convey the ephemeral nature of life on earth.
    • An example of a vanitas from the 17th century by Franciscus Gysbrechts.
  • Still Life Painting

    • This is known as the vanitas theme.
    • The vanitas theme was included in explicit symbols, such as a skull, or less obvious symbols such as a half-peeled lemon (representing life: sweet in appearance but bitter to taste).
  • Flemish Textiles of the Northern Renaissance

    • However, the tapestry may also align with the vanitas tradition, which began to emerge in the art of the Northern Renaissance and would become enormously popular with the elite classes of the Netherlands during the Baroque period.
    • Vanitas images, whether as still-lifes or as women adoring their reflections, usually couple earthly (transient) concerns with a symbol or specter of death.
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