Vanity of Vanities picture van Streck description. The main building of the Pushkin Museum – viii. Rembrandt and his school. Everyday genre. Dutch art of the 17th century

And several of his etchings. First of all, visitors need to be shown portraits of an old man and an old woman. The images of old people are very soulful, they convey not so much external beauty, long gone. Their visual appeal is a thing of the past. A master with amazing talent shows how rich the inner life of his heroes is, their inner world.

Rembrandt “Portrait of an Elderly Woman” Rembrandt “Portrait of an Old Man”

One of the brilliant masterpieces of the museum is the canvas.

The plot tells the story of a Jewish girl named Esther. She becomes the wife of an eastern despot, King Artaxerxes, who does not know about her origin. When the first minister of Artakerxes, Haman, prepares a secret order for the extermination of all the Jews, Esther, who learned about his cruel plan, takes an oath from her husband that he will fight all her enemies and the enemies of her people. Having learned about Haman's secret plot, Artaxerxes orders his execution. The king follows the oath given to him and takes the side of his wife. The canvas depicts a certain feast, at which all the details of Haman’s secret plan are revealed. Artaxerxes sits in the center, next to him is Esther. On the opposite side is Haman. With the help of light and composition, Rembrandt shows who will be the winner in this confrontation. The figure of Esther is brightly illuminated; she not only glows, but completely shines and shines. The figure of Haman appears in the shadows and it immediately becomes clear that Esther will be the winner in the dispute.

Rembrandt's paintings are described in detail in a series of publications:

Hall 11. Dutch art of the 17th century

Methodical advice: after where it is exhibited, show immediately to room No. 11. The Rembrandt Room is a walk-through room; in order to continue the tour, you will have to go through this room twice. In the case when Rembrandt's works are shown at the exit, the contrast will be brighter and the impression will be stronger. It turns out that you show huge paintings by Flemish artists, and then go into room No. 11 with small and dark paintings by Dutch masters in modest frames. Therefore, it is advisable to go straight to the hall and show it when you return.

All Dutch art of that time is connected with the Protestant consciousness of the 17th century. Artists depicted townspeople, burghers, even artisans, merchants, who had modest but cozy homes and who decorated their houses with the same small, modest paintings. In Holland at this time, paintings were not created by order of the church or aristocracy, as in Flanders. This is a completely different social order. And the pictures are completely different. On weekdays, such paintings were covered with curtains so that flies would not sit on them and dust would not settle. When a holiday came, guests came or just wanted to look at the picture, the curtains were opened, and then, of course, closed again. Therefore, artists painted very small, cozy paintings. It is no coincidence that the painters who created such images are called.

There are different versions of the origin of this term in art and they are all partly true. On the one hand, these artists are less famous than Frans Hals and Rembrandt - the great Dutch, that is, all the others are small compared to them. On the other hand, these chamber works are distinguished by their small format, modest plot, and everyday images, always taken from life. That is, small - not great, small - due to the small size of the canvases, small - because the plot of the paintings was not heroic, but everyday, intimate.

Still lifes. Dutch art of the 17th century

Still lifes were very popular. The paintings of the Dutch masters are incredibly life-like. Dutch painting of the 17th century is already the beginning of realism in painting. The still lifes are surprisingly real, but they are much more modest and natural than those of the Flemings. “Little Dutchmen” do not write an abundance of seafood or fruits of the earth, but so-called “breakfasts”, depicting several modest, seemingly forgotten things. It is no coincidence that their paintings have an amazing sense of the quiet life of objects. In Dutch it is “stil leven”, a still life is French name. In Northern European languages, this name is translated not as dead nature, but as quiet life.

Peter Claes “Breakfast” Gerrit Willems Heda “Ham and silverware”

Landscapes. Dutch art of the 17th century

In the bottom row we see landscapes and again they are not huge and monumental, but small ones that depict real backyards some Dutch village. The collection features the work of Jan Josephs van Goyen “View of the Waal River near Nijmegen.”

Jan Josephs van Goyen “View of the Waal River near Nijmegen”

The Nijmegen fortress played a very important role in the national liberation struggle. But we see not a hero city, but a small fortress on the river bank. The main characters here are the cows who came to the river bank to drink water and the fishermen pulling their nets.

Our attention is drawn to a barrel floating along the river. This is a quiet, peaceful, cozy world, a familiar world, a world that masters saw every day, a world of everyday routine. But the genius of the Dutch painters of the 17th century lies in the fact that they were able to see beauty behind this routine. To do this, you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth and look for spectacular mountains and sunsets, but you just need to look out the window and say: “Oh, how beautiful!” and convey it on your canvas.

The Dutch also became one of the founders of the everyday genre. Actually, the final division of painting into genres occurred in Holland in the 17th century, where the everyday genre was very popular.
We have quite a lot of paintings of the everyday genre; you should pay attention to three things.

Everyday genre. Dutch art of the 17th century

One of the paintings is “Peasant Wedding” by Jan Steen. The plot of this picture is very interesting.

Jan Havics Steen “Peasant Wedding”

It can be seen that all the guests of the bride and groom are laughing very strangely, and the boy is pointing at the bride’s belly with a malicious smile. A young but pregnant bride was slipped into the hands of a middle-aged, respectable groom. He doesn’t know about this yet, and here, laughing lasciviously, he is called into the matrimonial bedroom. This is the right side of the composition. The left side depicts a girl talking with a priest, a mother feeding her child, a girl playing with a dog. The dog is a symbol of fidelity. On the one hand, it is shown what should not be done, and on the other hand, what should be done; the picture clearly shows an example of bad and good behavior.

Everyday genre. Morals.

Dutch painting of the 17th century was incredibly moralizing. And what sometimes seems to us an almost depraved scene is actually an example of how not to behave or, conversely, an indication of how to do it. For example, Terborch's painting depicts a glass of wine. We see a girl who is being treated to wine by a young man and she is ready to drink this wine. In fact, wine is a symbol of debauchery, and in this case it is a symbol of free love. If a man offers a girl a glass of wine, and she accepts this glass of wine, then, obviously, she will accept all his other offers.
Gerard Gerards Terborch “Scene in the Tavern”

A more subdued scene is the parrot scene. In fact, the parrot is a symbol of idleness and stupidity. Here the girl, instead of sewing, is thinking about another, less chaste activity. We see that she closed her needlework box and let the parrot out of the cage, that is, she let her idleness and stupidity out of the cage.
Gabriel Metsu “Girl at Work”

Sick old man. Dutch art of the 17th century

And finally, the scene in the corner, the painting – “The Sick Old Man”. IN Soviet times here tears were shed, mourning the sad old age of this old man, to whom his young daughter was thrusting dry bones instead of food.

In fact, there is a completely different story here. It happens in a brothel where this old man came. The bawd, written in the center, offers him a young girl. The girl answers him: “Please, everything for your money.” The old man has a wallet with money in his hand. However, the dry bones seem to say that the old sensualist is already like a dried bone, and his idea is not worth a damn. This is emphasized by the empty, eaten shells scattered across the floor.

And in the background of the canvas the exact opposite picture is depicted. There you can see young men and women with whole eggs in a mesh plate. Here we are talking about the fact that trade is in full swing and everything will be successful.

It is also important that all the candles and lamps have gone out, and there is a picture hanging on the wall. If another picture is depicted on a Dutch canvas, then it serves as a kind of key to the interpretation of the plot. The painting on the wall depicts the Old Testament story “Susanna and the Elders.”
Jan Havics Stan “The Sick Old Man”

The story tells how the old men harassed Susanna, and when the girl refused them, they tried to slander her, saying that it was she who seduced them. In the religious Jewish state, Susanna was supposed to be stoned for this. But the wise judge thought of interrogating the old men separately and it turned out that their testimonies did not coincide in detail. Then he realized that the old people were deceiving the court and they were punished. In this case, this is a direct indication that this old man will also be punished for his unworthy behavior and, apparently, soon, because extinguished lamps in Dutch painting mean death.

Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and XVII centuries, individual examples of the genre are found in France and Spain.

The term dates back to bible verse (Eccl 1:2 ) Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas (“Vanity of vanities,” said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, “all is vanity!”).

The sad look of these items neutralized by the gifts of the earth surrounding them: flowers, fruits, baskets of fruit and children playing with these things -putti. Aesthetics a genre full of meaning contrasts And " reduced"tragic on the verge of ironic grotesque , typical of art style Baroque .

Still lifes like " vanitas "began to appear in Flemish paintings of the 17th century, and then became widespread in art Holland , Italy And Spain . The most famous masters P. van der Willige, M. Vithos, J. fan Streck loved to paint still lifes - puzzles with mysterious objects and inscriptions . These paintings became a mystery of the Baroque era.

Spanish artists tended to be more optimistic"bodegones" , and the Italians, and above all Venetians , preferred still lifes as accessory , background to depict beautiful women at the toilet in front of mirror. One of the most interesting still lifes by the Swiss J. Heinz ( OK. 1600) is in Pinakothek Brera in Milan , Italy. In genre "vanitas" Flemish painters worked in France: Philippe de Champaigne, J. Bouillon. It is characteristic that "vanitas "remained in art history predominantly Flemish and Dutch phenomenon.

Symbols , found on the canvases, were intended to remind us of the frailty of human life and the transience of pleasures and achievements:

Scull - a reminder of the inevitability of death. Similar to howportrait is only a reflection of a once living person, just as a skull is only a form of a once living head. The viewer should perceive it as " reflection", it most clearly symbolizes the frailty of human life.
Rotten fruit- a symbol of aging.
Ripe fruits symbolize fertility, abundance, figuratively wealth and prosperity.
A number of fruits have their own meaning: the Fall is indicated pears, tomatoes, citruses, grapes, peaches and cherries, and of course, apples. Have erotic overtones figs, plums, cherries, apples or peaches.
Flowers ( fading) ; rose is the flower of Venus, a symbol of love and sex, which is vain, like everything inherent in man. Poppy - depressant, from which opium is made, a symbol of the mortal sin of laziness. The tulip is a collectible in the 17th century Netherlands, a symbol of thoughtlessness, irresponsibility and unreasonable handling of a God-given fortune.
Sprouts of grain, branches of ivy or laurel ( rarely) - a symbol of rebirth and the cycle of life.
Marineshells , Sometimes live snails- a mollusk shell is the remains of a once living animal; it signifies death and mortality. The creeping snail is the personification of the mortal sin of laziness. Large mollusks denote the duality of nature, a symbol of lust, another of the deadly sins.
Bubble- shortness of life and suddenness of death; reference to expression homo bulla - « man eating a soap bubble».
Extinguishing smoking candle(cinder) or oil lamp; cap for extinguishing candles - a burning candle is a symbol of the human soul, its extinguishing symbolizes departure.
Cups, playing cards or dice, chess (rarely)- a sign of an erroneous life goal, a search for pleasure and a sinful life. Equality of opportunity in gambling also meant reprehensible anonymity.
Smoking pipe- a symbol of fleeting and elusive earthly pleasures.
Carnival mask- is a sign of the absence of a person inside her. Also intended for festive masquerade, irresponsible pleasure.
Mirrors, glass (mirror) balls- the mirror is a symbol of vanity, in addition, it is also a sign of reflection, shadow, and not a real phenomenon.
Broken dishes, usually glass glasses. Empty glass, opposed to complete, symbolizes death. Glass symbolizes fragility, snow white porcelain- cleanliness. The mortar and pestle are symbols of male and female sexuality. Bottle- a symbol of the sin of drunkenness.
Knife- reminds us of human vulnerability and mortality. Moreover, thisphallic symbol and hidden depictions of male sexuality.
Sand and mechanicalwatch - the transience of time.
Musical instruments , notes- the brevity and ephemeral nature of life, a symbol of the arts.
Books and geographic Maps (mappa mundi), writing pen- symbol of science.
globe, both the earth and the starry sky.
Palette with tassels, laurel wreath (usually on the head of a skull)- symbolspainting and poetry.
Portraits beautiful women, anatomical drawings. Letters symbolize human relationships.
Red wax seals, medical instruments- a reminder of the diseases and frailty of the human body.
Coin purses, jewelry boxes- jewelry and cosmetics are intended to create beauty, female attractiveness, at the same time they are associated with vanity, narcissism and the mortal sin of arrogance. They also signal the absence of their owners on the canvas.
Weapons and armor- a symbol of power and might, a designation of what cannot be taken with you to the grave.
Crowns and papal tiaras, scepters and orbs, leaf wreaths- signs of transient earthly domination, which is opposed to the heavenly world order. Like masks, they symbolize the absence of those who wore them.
Keys- symbolize the power of the housewife managing supplies.
Ruin- symbolize the transitory life of those who once inhabited them.
A sheet of paper with a moralizing (pessimistic) saying, For example: Vanitas vanitatum; Ars longa vita brevis; Hodie mihi cras tibi (today for me, tomorrow for you); Finis gloria mundi; Memento mori; Homo bulla; In ictu oculi (in the blink of an eye); Aeterne pungit cito volat et occidit (the fame of heroic deeds will dissipate just like a dream); Omnia morte cadunt mors ultima linia rerum (everything is destroyed by death, death is the final boundary of all things); Nil omne (everything is nothing)

Very rarely still lifes of this genre include human figures, sometimes a skeleton - the personification of death. Objects are often depicted in disarray, symbolizing the overthrow of the achievements they represent.

Still lifes vanitas in their initial form they were frontal images of skulls (usually in niches with a candle) or other symbols of death and mortality, which were written on the reverses of portraits during the Renaissance. These vanitas , as well as flowers, which were also painted on the back - the earliest examples of the still life genre in European art of the New Age ( for example, the first Dutch still life is “Vanitas” by Jacob de Geyn). These skulls on the backs of the portraits symbolized the mortality of human nature (mors absconditus) and were contrasted with the living state of the model on the back of the picture. The earliest vanitas - usually the most modest and gloomy, often almost monochrome. Still lifes vanitas emerged as an independent genre around 1550.

Artists of the 17th century stopped depicting the skull strictly frontally in the composition and usually “ put» him aside. As the Baroque era progressed, these still lifes became more and more magnificent and abundant.

They gained popularity by the 1620s. The development of the genre until its decline in popularity around the 1650s. centered in Leiden, a Dutch city that Bergstrom, in his study of Dutch still life painting, declared “the center of the creation vanitas in the 17th century." Leiden was an important center of Calvinism, a movement that condemned the moral depravity of mankind and strived for a strong moral code. Bergstrom believed that for Calvinist artists these still lifes were a warning against vanity and frailty and were an illustration of the Calvinist morality of the time. Also, the formation of the genre was probably influenced by the humanistic views and heritage of the genre memento mori.

The skull is the emblem of human mortality. At the same time, it is considered as a container for the soul, the life of a being, and has been endowed with special ritual value since Paleolithic times. Among the Celts, it was revered as the focus of sacred power, which protected a person from unfavorable forces and bestowed health and wealth. The skull is an attribute of Hindu hermits, sannyasins, as a sign of their renunciation of the world on the path to salvation. Also acts as an attribute of the formidable deities of the Tibetan pantheon. Taoist immortals (xian) are often depicted with an exorbitantly overgrown skull - a sign that they have accumulated a huge amount of yang energy in their brains.

Muslims associate the famous saying that a person's fate is written on his forehead with the sutures of the skull, the curves of which resemble letters.

The skull, like the scythe, and the old woman are included in the main matrix of symbols of death. The skull is an attribute of many images of Christian apostles and saints, such as St. Paul, St. Magdalene, St. Francis of Assisi. Hermits are often depicted with a skull, indicating their thoughts about death. On some icons, the crucifix is depicted with a skull and crossbones at the base and serves as a reminder of death on the cross. According to one legend, this cross stood on the bones of Adam, and thanks to the crucifixion of the Savior on it, all people will gain eternal life.

In Western culture, death has been moved from its rightful place in life cycle, although it is the most ancient, like birth, the main biological function. The mechanisms of dying are developed by nature with the same attention as the mechanisms of birth, with concern for the welfare of the body, with the same abundance of genetic information for guidance in all phases of death, which we are accustomed to finding in critical situations of our lives. Therefore, death places its signs, carefully warns of its approach. It is not for nothing that the ancient “remember death” had to be expressed in symbolism and signs that are placed on the roads of life. Fortune tellers of various kinds had a human skull for various types witchcraft, for example, was placed at one’s head and the skull was called upon to tell the truth.

In alchemy, a “dead head” is a residue in a crucible, products of alchemical decay that are useless for further actions and transformations. In a figurative sense, it is something devoid of any content, a dead form, a kind of dross. The Sabines believed that the human soul descended precisely to the skull, so ritual bowls were made from skulls. Rabbi Maimonides burned myrtle around the skull, Rabbi Eleazar described the methods of making teraphim - they slaughtered the first-born, cut off the head, salted it and put a gold plate with an inscription under the tongue, after which they waited for messages from him. It was not for nothing that the teraphim kidnapped Rachel so that her head would not inform Laban that Jacob had fled. We see remnants of the Lemurian cult of teraphim in Christianity - Adam's Head, as well as in the occult Reich, where there was an order and an entire division called “Death's Head”. And even in modern life- one of the signs of the Moscow International Film Festival was the red head of the teraphim.

Some peoples of Siberia had a custom: they put the head of a killed animal, for example, a bear, and asked its ancestral patron spirit for forgiveness for having to kill this animal. For Mexicans, the depths of the earth are given over to the skull. The black mark - the sign of the death's head among pirates and filibusters - was sent as a warning to those who were destined for death.

It is from the skull of the killed horse that the snake crawls out and stung Prophetic Oleg.

The white skull is a sign of the highest sephira, which releases dew and returns the dead to life. Scandinavian Odin always took with him the head of Mimir, which brought him news from other worlds. The story of Jacob de Molay's fiery skull symbolizes the vital vitality, and this story began in 1314, when the chief master of the Order of the Knights Templar was burned at the stake. They say that the surviving Templars paid the executioner and he, after putting out the fire, took out the skull, which was then cleaned. Then the skull, along with the idol Baphomet, was sent to Scotland, from where, already at the time of the conquest of America by the Freemasons, it migrated to the town of Charleston, where it was deposited by modern Palladists. According to Albert Pike, during the contact of the highest ranks of the order with this skull, which rested on a black granite column, a light flashed inside the skull and flooded the entire room.

According to another witness, the mythical doctor Bataille, flames burst out of the openings of the eye sockets: sometimes red, sometimes white, sometimes green, and these three rays were like fiery snakes. In addition to its fiery properties, the skull had the power of a curse. He spoke blasphemous words during the fire ritual. Indeed, during the execution in 1314, Jacob de Molay cursed the three main culprits in the trial of the order - Pope Clement V, who died 40 days after the death of the master, and a few months later, Philip the Fair also died of an unknown terrible disease, then shared the same fate his three sons, who died one after another within 14 years. People called them “damned kings.” Further development of the legend attributes to Jacob de Molay the prophecy that the dynasty of French kings would end on the chopping block. And the curse came true: in 1786. Louis XVI was condemned to death at a Masonic meeting, and three years later, during the Revolution, he was beheaded.

In the Tibetan tradition along the line of Karma Pa ( black crown) there was a complex multi-stage meditation on human bones, which allowed a person to overcome the fear of death, without forgetting the frailty of life. Also in Tibet there was a dripping bowl, a ritual vessel made from a human skull. This ritual object was represented as a symbol of compassion, since, according to the figurative representation, the blood of all deeply feeling beings was placed in it.

Vanitas- a direction of painting that simply cannot be ignored. It is also called “Vanity of Vanities.” Such an unusual name comes from the Latin vanus, which translates as “perishable, empty.” The development of this direction began in the seventeenth century. European culture at that time was not going through the happiest period: a feeling of uncertainty about the future reigned in society, which was reflected in the fine arts.

“Vanity of vanities” - it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate name for a genre whose specifics help emphasize the fragility of human life, which can end at any moment. With the help of visual means characteristic of this genre, the frailty of existence is shown - through a variety of symbols that unconsciously influence human consciousness. And in the face of inevitable death, all political and religious problems begin to seem so meaningless!

Like any other genre, vanitas has a number of attributes unique to it, which carry a certain meaning and allow one to convey the futility of any action.

A symbol such as a skull is very common. It should suggest the inevitability of death. The skeleton is all that remains of our bodily shell, which is why the skull here is like a mirror image of our future.

Well, rotten fruits in this genre are depicted as a symbol of aging. If there are ripe fruits on the canvas, they mean fertility, abundance or wealth. Moreover, each fruit has its own meaning. Often in vanitas paintings you can see flowers, most often withering. Each flower also carries its own information, for example, a rose is a symbol of sex and love, it is vain, just like a person.

It is quite curious that in the vanitas style images there are soap bubbles, which would seem (in our usual perception) a symbol of the joy of life. But here everything is more complicated: in these pictures, a soap bubble means a short-term existence. And how easily it can burst indicates the suddenness of death. Other iconic attributes of this genre include candles (smoldering or dying), filled goblets, playing cards, smoking pipes, carnival masks, mirrors and broken dishes...

One could spend a long time listing the objects found in paintings in the vanitas genre, and even longer trying to interpret their meaning. But it will be more important to say the main thing: vanitas is an art that makes us think and rethink a lot.

Philippe de Champagne (1602-1674). Life, death and time. Around 1671 / Philippe de Champaigne's Vanitas is reduced to three essentials: Life, Death, and Time. circa 1671. 28x37 cm Musée de Tessé, Le Mans, France. via

Around the same time when strict monks greeted each other remembering death, and a little earlier: in the 16th and 17th centuries, the allegorical type of vanitas paintings became widespread in the Netherlands and Flanders. This word is translated from Latin as “vanity; emptiness, emptiness, insignificance; futility, uselessness; deceit, boasting, vanity, frivolity.” In Vanitas paintings, the human skull served as the compositional center; they were intended to remind us of the transience of life, the futility of pleasures and the inevitability of death.

Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400-1464). Triptych of the Braque family, circa 1452. Triptych closed. Louvre, Paris / The outer panels of Rogier van der Weyden's Braque Triptych shows the skull of the patron displayed in the inner panels. The bones rest on a brick, a symbol of his former industry and achievement

The name Vanitas comes from the phrase "Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas" / "Vanity of vanities and all sorts of vanity" from the Book of Ecclesiastes or Preacher, attributed to King Solomon, in the Bible it is placed among the Books of Solomon. The words “Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas” are first found in the Vulgate Latin translation of the Bible.

3.

Andrea Previtali called Cordeliaghi (1470-1528) (Italian) (Painter). Portrait of a Man - Memento Mori. Panel. 23.8 x18 cm. Museo Poldi Pezzoli. Inv. 1598verso.

"The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities - all is vanity!
What profit does a man get from all the labors he toils under the sun?
A generation passes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

4.

Jan Gossaert (1478-1532). Trompe-l"oeil Skull. Date 1517, wood. 43x27 cm. Louvre Museum. via

The sun rises, and the sun sets, and hastens to its place where it rises.
The wind goes to the south, and goes to the north, spins, spins as it goes, and the wind returns to its circles.

5.

Bartholomeus Brain the Elder (c. 1493-1555). Vanitas, first half of the 16th century. / Barthel Bruyn the Elder(circa 1493-1555). Vanitas, oil on panel. Dimensions 61 × 51 cm. Current location Kröller-Müller Museum. Inscriptions: Placecard next to the skull reads in Latin: Omnia morte cadunt, mors ultima linia rerum. In English translation: Everything passes with death, death is the ultimate limit of all things via

All rivers flow into the sea, but the sea does not overflow: to the place from which the rivers flow, they return to flow again.
All things are in labor: a person cannot retell everything; The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear will be filled with hearing.

6.

Solesmes, Bibliothèque de l'abbaye Saint-Pierre, 018, f. 145. Heures d'Ottobeuren, 16th century

What has been is what will be; and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

7.

Livre d'heures, en latin et en français, à l'usage de Cambray. Devise. Vous seul. Date: 1401-1500. Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Ms-1185 réserve. Provenance: bnf.fr.

There is something about which they say: “look, this is new”; but [this] was already in the centuries that were before us.
There is no memory of the past; and those who come after will have no memory of what will happen.

8.

Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, 0118, detail of f. 281 (marginal illustration for Office of the Dead). Early 16th cent. via

I, Ecclesiastes, was king over Israel in Jerusalem;
and I gave my heart to search and test with wisdom all that is done under heaven: this difficult task God gave to the sons of men so that they would practice in it.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, everything is vanity and vexation of spirit!
What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is not there cannot be counted.

9.

San Marino, Huntington Library, HM 01132, detail of f. 106. Book of Hours, use of Rome. Italy, late 15th century

I spoke to my heart like this: Behold, I have become exalted and gained wisdom more than all who were before me over Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and stupidity: I learned that this too is languor of the spirit;

10.

St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 357, detail of f. 343.Missal. St. Gall, 1555

because in much wisdom there is much sorrow; and whoever increases knowledge increases sorrow."

11.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). Skull, 1887 / Van Gogh, Skull, 1887. Oil on canvas, 41.5 x 31.5 cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Allegorical still life

Vanitas (lat. vanitas, lit. - “vanity, vanity, frailty”) - a genre variety of still life, representing the attributes of " frailty of earthly existence": hourglass, skull, globe, extinguished candle, ancient tome...

Antonio de Pereda (1608-1678) Vanitas - Florence, Uffizi.

A genre of Baroque painting, allegorical still life, the compositional center of which is traditionally the human skull. Such paintings, an early stage in the development of still life, were intended to serve as reminders of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure and the inevitability of death. It became most widespread in Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries; individual examples of the genre are found in France and Spain.

The term comes from the Bible verse ( Eccles. 1:2 ) Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas (“Vanity of vanities,” said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, “all is vanity!”).

Juan Valdez Leal (1622 - 1690)

The sad appearance of these objects is neutralized by the gifts of the earth surrounding them: flowers, fruits, baskets of fruit and children playing with these things - putti. The aesthetics of a genre full of semantic contrasts and " reduced"tragic on the verge of ironic grotesque, typical of Baroque art.

Still lifes like " vanitas "began to appear in Flemish painting of the 17th century, and then became widespread in the art of Holland, Italy and Spain. The most famous masters P. van der Willige, M. Withos, J. fan Streck loved to paint still lifes-rebuses with mysterious objects and inscriptions. These paintings became a mystery of the Baroque era.

S.Stoskopff, Vanitas (c. 1650)

Spanish artists tended towards more optimistic bodegones, while the Italians, and especially the Venetians, preferred still lifes as an accessory, a background for depicting beautiful women at the toilet in front of the mirror. One of the most interesting still lifes by the Swiss J. Heinz ( OK. 1600) is located in the Pinacoteca Brera in Milan, Italy. In the genre "vanitas" Flemish painters worked in France: Philippe de Champaigne, J. Bouillon. It is characteristic that "vanitas "remained in the history of art primarily a Flemish and Dutch phenomenon.

Antonio de Pereda (1608-1678) Gentleman and death

The symbols found on the canvases were intended to remind us of the frailty of human life and the transience of pleasures and achievements:

Scull- a reminder of the inevitability of death. Just as a portrait is only a reflection of a once living person, so a skull is only the shape of a once living head. The viewer should perceive it as " reflection", it most clearly symbolizes the frailty of human life.

Rotten fruit- a symbol of aging.
Ripe fruits symbolize fertility, abundance, figuratively wealth and prosperity.
A number of fruits have their own meaning: the Fall is indicated pears, tomatoes, citruses, grapes, peaches and cherries, and of course, apples. Have erotic overtones figs, plums, cherries, apples or peaches.
Flowers ( fading) ; rose is the flower of Venus, a symbol of love and sex, which is vain, like everything inherent in man. Poppy is a sedative from which opium is made, a symbol of the mortal sin of laziness. The tulip is a collectible in the 17th century Netherlands, a symbol of thoughtlessness, irresponsibility and unreasonable handling of a God-given fortune.

Adrian van Utrecht

Sprouts of grain, branches of ivy or laurel ( rarely) - a symbol of rebirth and the cycle of life.
Sea shells, Sometimes live snails- a mollusk shell is the remains of a once living animal; it signifies death and mortality. The creeping snail is the personification of the mortal sin of laziness. Large mollusks denote the duality of nature, a symbol of lust, another of the deadly sins.
Bottle- a symbol of the sin of drunkenness.
Red wax seals, medical instruments- a reminder of the diseases and frailty of the human body.
Bubble- shortness of life and suddenness of death; reference to expression homo bulla - « man eating a soap bubble».

Simon - Renard de Saint - André

▪ Cups, playing cards or dice, chess (rarely)- a sign of an erroneous life goal, a search for pleasure and a sinful life. Equality of opportunity in gambling also meant reprehensible anonymity.

Smoking pipe- a symbol of fleeting and elusive earthly pleasures.

Extinguishing smoking candle(cinder) or oil lamp; cap for extinguishing candles - a burning candle is a symbol of the human soul, its extinguishing symbolizes departure.

Carnival mask- is a sign of the absence of a person inside her. Also intended for festive masquerade, irresponsible pleasure.

Antonio de Pereda (1608–1678), The Knight's Dream.1655

Mirrors, glass (mirror) balls- the mirror is a symbol of vanity, in addition, it is also a sign of reflection, shadow, and not a real phenomenon.

Jacob de Geyn

Broken dishes, usually glass glasses.
Empty glass, opposed to complete, symbolizes death. Glass symbolizes fragility, snow white porcelain- cleanliness. The mortar and pestle are symbols of male and female sexuality.

Knife- reminds us of human vulnerability and mortality. It is also a phallic symbol and a hidden image of male sexuality.
Hourglass and mechanical watches- the transience of time.

F. de Champagne

Musical instruments, notes- the brevity and ephemeral nature of life, a symbol of the arts.

M. Harnett

Books and maps ( mappa mundi), writing pen- symbol of science.
globe, both the earth and the starry sky.
Palette with tassels, laurel wreath (usually on the head of a skull)- symbols of painting and poetry.
Portraits of beautiful women, anatomical drawings. Letters symbolize human relationships.

Pieter Claesz

Coin purses, jewelry boxes- jewelry and cosmetics are intended to create beauty, feminine attractiveness, but at the same time they are associated with vanity, narcissism and the mortal ▪sin of arrogance. They also signal the absence of their owners on the canvas.
Weapons and armor- a symbol of power and might, a designation of what cannot be taken with you to the grave.

Korie Everuto (Evert Collier), Vanitas).1669

Crowns and papal tiaras, scepters and orbs, leaf wreaths- signs of transient earthly domination, which is opposed to the heavenly world order. Like masks, they symbolize the absence of those who wore them.
Keys- symbolize the power of the housewife managing supplies.
Ruin- symbolize the transitory life of those who once inhabited them.

Bartholomeus Brain the Elder 1st half. XVI century

A sheet of paper with a moralizing (pessimistic) saying, For example: Vanitas vanitatum; Ars longa vita brevis; Hodie mihi cras tibi (today for me, tomorrow for you); Finis gloria mundi; Memento mori; Homo bulla; In ictu oculi (in the blink of an eye); Aeterne pungit cito volat et occidit (the fame of heroic deeds will dissipate just like a dream); Omnia morte cadunt mors ultima linia rerum (everything is destroyed by death, death is the final boundary of all things); Nil omne (everything is nothing)

Evert Collier (1630/50 -1708). Self-portrait with Vanitas

A. Steenwinkel. Vanitas Self-portrait of the artist.

David Bailly (1584 - 1657) Self-Portrait with Vanitas, 1651