19th Century French School Vanitas Skull Still Life Oil Painting
19th Century French School Vanitas Still Life with skull, book and rosary.
Oil on canvas, lined.
Well painted, attractive & highly decorative Vanitas skull image.
Good condition & colour. Craquelure appropriate to period.
In gold gilt period frame.
Vanitas (Latin for 'vanity') in this context meaning pointlessness, or futility, is a genre of art which uses symbolism to show the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, and thus the vanity of ambition and all worldy desires. The paintings involved still life imagery of transitory items. The genre began in the 16th century and continued into the 17th century. Vanitas art is a type of allegorical art representing a higher ideal. Memento mori is a similar theme which when translated from Latin means, "remember that you will die."
A group of painters in Leiden began to produce vanitas paintings in the beginning of the 16th century and they continued into the 17th century. Vanitas art is an allegorical art representing a higher ideal or containing hidden meanings. Vanitas are very formulaic and they use literary and traditional symbols to convey mortality. Vanitas often have a message that is rooted in religion or the Christian Bible.
In the 17th century the vanitas genre was popular among Dutch painters. The paintings often have symbolic imagery which attempts to convey the message that all people die, encouraging the viewer to think about the futility of our earthly pursuits. The well known Spanish vanitas refer to Spain's rulers and the politics of Spain. It was popular to include skulls in vanitas paintings as a symbol of the ephemeral nature of life.
H: 46.3 x W: 38.2 cm (Frame: 56.5 x 49cm).
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