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Vanitas Still Life

Jacques de Gheyn II Netherlandish
1603
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 617
This panel is generally considered to be the earliest known independent still-life painting of a vanitas subject, or symbolic depiction of human vanity. The skull, large bubble, cut flowers, and smoking urn all evoke the brevity of life, while images floating in the bubble—such as a wheel of torture and a leper’s rattle—refer to human folly. The figures flanking the arch above are Democritus and Heraclitus, the laughing and weeping philosophers of ancient Greece.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Vanitas Still Life
  • Artist: Jacques de Gheyn II (Netherlandish, Antwerp 1565–1629 The Hague)
  • Date: 1603
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 32 1/2 x 21 1/4 in. (82.6 x 54 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Charles B. Curtis, Marquand, Victor Wilbour Memorial, and The Alfred N. Punnett Endowment Funds, 1974
  • Object Number: 1974.1
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Landscape with Man Milking a Cow
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Virgin and Child
Jacques de Gheyn II
Abraham Bloemaert
Joseph with Carpenter's Tools
Jacques de Gheyn II
Abraham Bloemaert
n.d.
Study of a Tree, Jacques de Gheyn II Netherlandish, Pen and brown ink over black chalk
Study of a Tree
Jacques de Gheyn II
late 16th–early 17th century
Head of a Bearded Man Wearing a Cap, Jacques de Gheyn II Netherlandish, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash; framling lines in graphite
Head of a Bearded Man Wearing a Cap
Jacques de Gheyn II
late 16th–early 17th century

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