Vanitas
Vanitas is a genre of painting that reflects on mortality and the transient nature of life and material pleasures. The term "vanitas" derives from the Latin word "vanus," meaning both "empty" and "frivolous," and is rooted in biblical scripture, specifically the Book of Ecclesiastes. Originating in the early seventeenth century, particularly in the Netherlands, vanitas paintings often feature still life arrangements that juxtapose symbols of death—such as skulls, extinguished candles, and hourglasses—with items of luxury and earthly enjoyment like jewelry, musical instruments, and fine foods. This artistic style served as a moral reminder for viewers to contemplate the fleeting aspects of existence and the emptiness of material wealth.
Vanitas became prominent during the Dutch Golden Age, a period marked by economic prosperity and cultural flourishing. Artists like Harmen Steenwyck and David Bailly crafted these paintings to resonate with the burgeoning middle class, who desired art that conveyed both beauty and moral lessons. The artworks frequently contain inscriptions or open books that echo the theme of life's brevity. Through intricate details and varied textures, vanitas paintings encapsulate the duality of human existence, emphasizing both the joy of living and the inevitability of death.
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Vanitas
Vanitas is a genre of painting that contains images representing death and the fleeting nature of life and earthly pleasures. It comes from the Latin adjective vanus, which has two meanings: "empty" and "frivolous." The name comes from the Christian Bible's Old Testament in the Book of Ecclesiastes 12:8. These primarily still life paintings are meant to remind the viewer that life is short, material possessions and pleasures are temporary, and individuals should turn away from sin.
Vanitas paintings became popular in the Netherlands and northern Europe during the early seventeenth century. Some of the most prominent Dutch painters, including David Bailly, Jan Davidsz de Heem, Willem Claesz Heda, Pieter Potter, and Harmen Steenwyck, created vanitas works.
Background
The provinces known as the Netherlands fought a number of battles to gain independence from Spanish rule beginning in the sixteenth century. Although the rulers of Spain were Roman Catholic, the people of the Netherlands wanted greater freedom, including religious freedom. Protestant Christianity, in the form of Calvinism, became established in the region during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), the fight for independence from Spain.
The success of the independence movement boosted the confidence of the Dutch people. With their hard-won freedom, they achieved greater commercial opportunities. The Netherlands became one of the wealthiest nations in the world during the seventeenth century. The Dutch middle class, or bourgeoisie, held the reins of power because of its economic influence. Dutch ships carried goods in and out of Dutch harbors. Many of these wealthy families, and even those of modest means, wished to own art, in particular paintings. As Protestants, the Dutch bourgeoisie rejected much of the art produced elsewhere in Europe, including Catholic images common to Italy and other centers of artistic development. Likewise, the Protestant church did not permit paintings and other decorations within the churches; artists could not rely on commissions from church leaders, and focused on sales to individuals.
The Netherlands was home to many fine art schools and studios, where many students apprenticed. These schools and studios produced works that appealed to the Dutch middle class—home interiors, portraits, scenes of everyday life, and still life paintings. Most were painted on canvases sized to be displayed in middle-class homes. Some bourgeoisie displayed dozens of paintings on the walls of one small room, where guests could see them. Paintings of other sizes, including life-size, full-length portraits and large landscapes, could also be had. This period became known as the Dutch Golden Age (c. 1610–1680), when up to ten million works of art were produced in one century. Many Dutch people were pleased to commission portraits of themselves and their families, and examples by such artists as Rembrandt and Jan Vermeer are among the best-known works of the period.
Artists in various towns began to specialize in genre painting. Some captured peasant scenes, interiors of family life, landscapes, or scenes that imparted a moral lesson. Still life painting also developed as a genre. Many feature flowers, for example, or food—a common arrangement is the table set with an abundance of foods and serving pieces. Other genres, including country scenes and military events, were also the subjects of paintings displaying Dutch pride in the country's history and success.
Overview
The Dutch ambiguity about displays of wealth manifested in vanitas works. Artists had often painted these images of death and impermanence on the reverse side of portraits in the Leiden region during the Renaissance (fourteenth to seventeenth centuries). By the middle of the sixteenth century, these reverse-side images had come out from the back of paintings, and by 1620, vanitas was a popular genre.
Most vanitas paintings are still life arrangements containing items representing the common themes. The earliest works are monochromatic and harsh, often depicting just a skull and some books. Later works include a greater variety of items and deeper meaning. These are rendered in lighter and more varied colors. Books, maps, and musical instruments represent the arts and sciences. Jewelry, purses, and other luxuries represent power and wealth. Earthly pleasures are represented by objects such as pipes, playing cards, and wine glasses. These subjects are countered by symbols of death or impermanence, such as candles (either burning or recently extinguished, with wisps of smoke curling above them), clocks, flowers, hourglasses, skulls, and soap bubbles. Overripe fruit may hint at death and decay. Some vanitas works include symbols of eternal life, such as ears of corn or sprigs of ivy and laurel. Rather than depicting a careful placement of objects, the paintings contain a jumble of items. Many times, the table covering is rumpled and bunched around the items.
The later paintings exhibit the skill of the artists. The multiple items in a grouping represented a challenge to the painter, who had to capture a wide range of textures. This skill is often seen in the shadows and light on the bones and the tattered edges of papers and books. Books showing clear signs of frequent use are common; they might indicate the reader's life has been enriched through the knowledge found in the books, or the idea that the reader has dedicated his fleeting time on Earth to pursuing knowledge. Books in pristine condition, or those that appear to be valuable, may also represent wealth and vanity.
Many vanitas artists included inscriptions in their works that reinforced the notion that life is fleeting. Others used open books or scrolls that contained similar messages or biblical passages, including the line from Ecclesiastes that gives the genre its name.
Harmen Steenwyck was one of the most famous vanitas artists of the Netherlands. His Still Life: An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life (c. 1640) contains the hallmarks of a vanitas painting. It includes a skull, symbolizing death, as well as books, indicating knowledge. Three musical instruments—a lute, a recorder, and a woodwind called a shawm—represent human pleasures. Wealth is present in the form of collectors' items: a delicate seashell and a Japanese sword. A chronometer and a lamp that is burning out represent the brevity of life. Steenwyck's other works include Still Life with Earthenware Jar, Fish and Fruit (1652), Vanitas Still Life with Skull, Books and Fruit (c. 1630), and Still Life of Fruit and Dead Fowl (1650). Steenwyck and his brother, Pieter, were students of their uncle David Bailly. Bailly is credited with helping to popularize the vanitas genre. He painted Self-Portrait with Vanitas Symbols (1651), one of the rare vanitas works to include a human subject. Although Bailly was sixty-seven years old at the time he painted the work, he depicts himself as a young man with a collection of items and several small portraits. Among these paintings is Bailly as an older man. The inclusion of both old and young Bailly further emphasizes the inevitable march of time.
Other important vanitas include The Ambassadors (1533) by Hans Holbein, Vanitas Self-Portrait (1610) by Clara Peeters, Vanitas Still Life (1630) by Pieter Claesz, Allegory of Vanity (1633) by Jan Molenaer, and Still Life with Oysters (1635) by Willem Claesz.
Bibliography
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