Vanity Piece

This panel by Hendrick Andriessen entitled Mancken Heyn is a pure example of a vanitas painting. The attributes are arranged in a careful composition in a closed niche, which probably represents the world. An oil lamp, a soap bubble, a skull and the bouquet of flowers refer to how fragile life is, tobacco to the triviality of earthly pleasures. The…

This panel by Hendrick Andriessen entitled Mancken Heyn is a pure example of a vanitas painting. The attributes are arranged in a careful composition in a closed niche, which probably represents the world. An oil lamp, a soap bubble, a skull and the bouquet of flowers refer to how fragile life is, tobacco to the triviality of earthly pleasures. The image of death is not purely negative: the central element in this composition is a rose, which symbolizes the resurrection.