Description
Before you read further, take a few moments to just look at this remarkably detailed painting. As your eyes move across the canvas, try to identify the objects that you see on the table. Often when we think of a still-life, we imagine a painting of fruit or flowers, so you might be surprised by some of the objects you see. This is a vanitas—a specific type of still-life that emerged in the 17th century in the Netherlands and grew out of a long artistic tradition known as memento mori, meaning “reminders of mortality.” While looking closely at this painting, you probably noticed several objects that could be called reminders of mortality, such as the skull, the wilting tulip, and the dying wick of the candle.
Vanitas still-lifes were appreciated for both their beauty, rendered in incredible detail, and for their deeper symbolic significance. Andriessen’s contemporary audience may have recognized the crown as a specific, haunting reference to the recent execution of King Charles I of England in 1649. Every element of this painting also has broad symbolic power: the skull, bubbles, extinguished candle, flowers, and glass vase remind the viewer of the impermanence of life; the watch symbolizes the passing of time; the jeweled crown and bishop’s mitre lying behind it point to the fleeting nature of power.
Details
- Work Date:
- ca. 1650
- Location:
- Hill Gallery
- Medium:
- Oil on canvas
- Credit Line:
- Purchase with the Warbeke Art Museum Fund