![of all earthly goods and pursuits. Ecclesiastes 1:2;12:8 from the Bible is often quoted
in conjunction with this term.[1]
…Vanitas themes were common in medieval funerary art, with most surviving
examples in sculpture. By the 15th century these could be extremely morbid and
explicit, reflecting an increased obsession with death and decay also seen in the Ars
moriendi, Danse Macabre, and the overlapping motif of the Memento mori. From the
Renaissance such motifs gradually became more indirect, and as the still-life genre
became popular, found a home there. Paintings executed in the vanitas style were
meant to remind viewers of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the
certainty of death. They also provided a moral justification for many paintings of
attractive objects.
…Common vanitas symbols include skulls, which are a reminder of the certainty of
death; rotten fruit, which symbolizes decay; bubbles, which symbolize the brevity of
life and suddenness of death; smoke, watches, and hourglasses, which symbolize the
brevity of life; and musical instruments, which symbolize brevity and the ephemeral
nature of life. Fruit, flowers and butterflies can be interpreted in the same way, and a](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/stllife-140421122210-phpapp02/85/Stllife-8-320.jpg)
Stllife
- 8. of all earthly goods and pursuits. Ecclesiastes 1:2;12:8 from the Bible is often quoted in conjunction with this term.[1] …Vanitas themes were common in medieval funerary art, with most surviving examples in sculpture. By the 15th century these could be extremely morbid and explicit, reflecting an increased obsession with death and decay also seen in the Ars moriendi, Danse Macabre, and the overlapping motif of the Memento mori. From the Renaissance such motifs gradually became more indirect, and as the still-life genre became popular, found a home there. Paintings executed in the vanitas style were meant to remind viewers of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. They also provided a moral justification for many paintings of attractive objects. …Common vanitas symbols include skulls, which are a reminder of the certainty of death; rotten fruit, which symbolizes decay; bubbles, which symbolize the brevity of life and suddenness of death; smoke, watches, and hourglasses, which symbolize the brevity of life; and musical instruments, which symbolize brevity and the ephemeral nature of life. Fruit, flowers and butterflies can be interpreted in the same way, and a