Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

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

More Artwork

More Artwork
Study of Eleven Heads, Jacques de Gheyn II Netherlandish, Pen and three shades of brown ink with black chalk on laid paper; framing lines in pen and brown ink and graphite
Study of Eleven Heads
Jacques de Gheyn II
late 16th–early 17th century
Soprano Recorder in B, Thomas Coenraet Boekhout Dutch, Ebony, ivory, Dutch
Soprano Recorder in B
Thomas Coenraet Boekhout
ca. 1700
The Harvesters, Pieter Bruegel the Elder Netherlandish, Oil on oak
The Harvesters
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
1565
A Bouquet of Flowers, Clara Peeters Flemish, Oil on wood
A Bouquet of Flowers
Clara Peeters
ca. 1612
A soldier holding up his caliver in his right hand and extending his left to receive it, from the Marksmen series, plate 3, in "Waffenhandlung von den Rören Musquetten undt Spiessen / Wapenhandelinghe van Roers Musquetten Ende Spiessen" (The Exercise of Arms), Jacques de Gheyn II Netherlandish, Engraving; second state of two (New Hollstein)
A soldier holding up his caliver in his right hand and extending his left to receive it, from the Marksmen series, plate 3, in "Waffenhandlung von den Rören Musquetten undt Spiessen / Wapenhandelinghe van Roers Musquetten Ende Spiessen" (The Exercise of Arms)
After Jacques de Gheyn II
Workshop of Jacques de Gheyn II
Possibly by Robert Willemsz de Baudous
1608

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Timeline of Art History

Entries and chronologies from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.