Vanitas

Vanitas (Latin for 'vanity') is a genre of art which uses symbolism to show the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. The paintings involved still life imagery of transitory items.

The term originally comes from the opening lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible: ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’

Vanitas with bust, Joannes de Cordua (1630–1702)

Still life: An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life by Harmen Steenwijck

Vanitas Still Life with Self-Portrait, Pieter Claesz, 1628

Vanitas Still-Life with a Bouquet and a Skull, Adriaen van Utrecht, 1642

Great Vanity, Sebastian Stoskopff, 1641