Vanitas was a style of still life painting from the 16th and 17th century which had the goal of reminding their observers about their mortality in life, but also of the beauty that surrounds in the moments we are so generously gifted. A category under memento mori artwork, the artists communicated that life was fleeting and that living life solely for fame and glory was a useless venture. A waste of an enjoyment of life. They show that our worldly possessions and our pursuits in life will not exclude us from death, and serve as a reminder to be mindful of our time in this world.
Some of the objects in the paintings included books, bubbles, florals, clocks, burning or smoldering candles, and skulls. A mixture of symbols of prosperity, fragility, and mortality.
Jan Davidsz. De Heem
A Vanitas Still Life with a Skull, a Book, and Roses – 1630
A juxtaposing portrayal of the vibrance of life in full bloom beside an ever sure and ever present extinguished life. Settled beside a voluminous book and beverage, the skull of a once living existence can no longer partake in the simple pleasures of everyday life. The enriching text, the quenched thirst, and the perfumed essence of a rose can no longer be enjoyed, the same pleasures which we may take for granted now.
National Museum of Sweden
Joris van Son
Allegory of Human Life – 1660
A delicate yet exquisitely abundant garland perfectly ripe with the splendor of fragrance and taste, beckons the viewer to partake in its existence. Perched in the center of it all, the ultimate Vanitas symbols (skull and flickering candle) remain in the shadows as a gentle but ever present reminder surrounded by the vibrant wreath of life. Although this may be seen as a a completely morbid depiction, it beckons the viewer to partake nonetheless, before time has run out. Enjoy your life, to its fullest potential and beyond.
Walters Art Museum
Abraham Mignon
Flowers and Tony creature – Second Half of the 17th Century
Amidst the blooming bouquet of flowers, vibrant life, and perilous nature, lay the remains of a small bird symbolizing the vanity and the shortness of life.
National Museum of Warsaw
William Michael Harnett
My Gems – 1888
A Victorian interior, well-used and precious objects have been rendered so meticulously that the artist’s brushstrokes are barely discernible. Such trompe l’oeil art gained popularity in late nineteenth-century America, reflecting a fin-de-siècle preoccupation with mortality and the fleeting rewards of material wealth.
Although this Vanitas does not incorporate traditional elements of a Vanitas piece such as a skull or clock, Harnett chose a more subtle approach. Well-worn copies of Dante and Shakespeare, broken and burnt matchsticks, spilled ashes, and sheet music with musical instrument, representing yet again, the fleeting pleasantries of life.
National Gallery of Art
Jan van Kessler the Elder
Vanitas Still Life – 1665/1670
Floating and fleeing bubbles of life, ever fragile and ever beautiful. Surrounded by flourishing florals and insect life, the skull a reminder of the mortality of life, not present to enjoy such beauty anymore. Evolving into this mortal life, as part of the beautiful scene.
National Gallery of Art
