"What is the name of a still life with a skull?" - This question is asked by both simple art lovers and novice artists. When the first such still lifes appeared, what do they mean and which artists most often resorted to using the skull in their compositions? Look for answers to these and other questions later in the article.
Allegorical Vanitas Still Life
But still, what is the name of a still life with a skull? The answer is contained in the title of the subtitle - vanitas, which literally translates from Latin as “vanity” or “vanity”. Such paintings are not just one type of still life, but also one of the earliest, along with picturesque images of game and other prey from the hunt. But why exactly did they get such a name? The fact is that the word "vanitas" is repeated several times in a saying taken from a Latin translation of the Bible:
Vanity is vanity, said Ecclesiastes, vanity is vanity, - all vanity!
“Vanitas vanitatum” - this is exactly what “vanity of vanities” means . The first Vanitas were not independent paintings at all - monochrome still lifes with a skull and a candlestick were traditionally painted on the back of Renaissance portraits. This symbolized the perishability of being, hinting at the mortality of the depicted person, the flip side of life. Despite the considerable flourishing of Vanitas as an independent subgenre occurred in the Baroque era, the first similar still lifes were found in the 16th century, continued to appear in the 19-20th centuries, and are also sometimes used today. The allegorical meaning, which is filled with still lifes with a skull, will never lose its relevance.
Bartholomew Brain the Elder
In the reproductions above, you can see a still life with a skull and a candlestick of 1524 called "Vanity of vanities", written by German artist Bartholomew (Bartholomeus) Brain the Elder. Key items typical of the Vanitas are depicted in this minimalist Renaissance painting. As in all subsequent paintings, the center of the image is the skull, but in this case, the separately lying lower jaw is curious. An extinct candle symbolizes a departed soul. A piece of paper with Latin moralizing is very characteristic of the early Vanitas - in this case, the phrase "Everything is destroyed by death, death is the last frontier of all things."
It should be noted that this picture is one of the first of its kind, so that Bartolomeus Brain can safely be called one of the fathers of the ancestors of Vanitas painting. Currently, the picture is stored in the Dutch Museum Krelller-Muller.
Jacob de Gein II
The first Dutch still life with a skull, a reproduction of which can be seen above, was also the first still life for Holland as a whole. Its author was the artist Jacob de Gein II, he wrote this "Still Life Vanitas" in 1603. This picture is extraordinary in its image power and color depth, which is exactly what almost all still lifes of eminent Dutch masters will look like, including Rubens and Rembrandt. Here, the skull is still traditionally placed in the center of the composition and is located in some recess.
The left vase depicts a tulip - a classic for Holland symbol of squandering and irresponsibility, while the right vase is occupied by only one wilted stalk. This is a hint that before death, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, are equal. Coins of various denominations scattered in front of the skull also hint at squandering. Above the skull in the opening there is a huge glass ball in which the room is reflected - like mirrors, in vanitas such balls mean a fake image of reality, into which the human body turns after his death. It is curious that de Gein entered the decorative figures of the laughing Democritus and the weeping Heraclitus in the arch, characteristic of both the Renaissance and the Baroque. The canvas is stored in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The main photo of the article also presents a picture of this artist called "Still Life Vanitas", created in 1621. This is already a typical Baroque still life, filled with many symbolic objects, among which a huge number of books symbolizing scholarship, a laurel wreath, armor and a mantle, alluding to strength and power, as well as musical instruments and busts - all these things that can not be taken with you to the grave, and therefore in the center again the skull. The artist wanted to say that only the soul has value, and everything else is fussy and temporary, because even his own skeleton does not remain for a person after death.
Peter Klas
He was a great lover of still lifes with a skull and Peter Klass, another Dutch artist. He has accounted for more than a hundred different Vanitas paintings, sometimes he redrawn the same composition several times, changing in it some insignificant object or angle of incidence of light. Above you can see reproductions of the following paintings:
- "Still life with a skull and feather", 1628.
- Vanitas, 1630th
- Still Life Vanitas, 1630.
- "Vanitas still life with a book, skull, oil lamp, wineglass and pen", 1630th.
Still life with the skull of Peter Klas have a number of constantly present objects. Almost always, the composition is complemented by an oil lamp or candle, a pen, a pocket watch, nuts and an overturned glass - usually with a studded leg. As you already know, candles and lamps symbolize a dying life, a pen, like books, - learning. The presence of a clock hints at the transience of time or a stopped life, crushed nuts indicate a broken shell of the body, an overturned glass indicates an abuse of drunkenness.
Most Vanitas still lifes of this artist are in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Adrian van Utrecht
Above, you can see a reproduction of Adrian van Utrecht's "Vanity of Vanities", which the Belgian artist painted around 1640. Another name for the canvas is "Still Life with a Bouquet and a Skull." All the characters represented in this vanitas are somehow related to vanity and waste, mainly female ones. A bouquet of tulips and roses, as well as a huge sink speak of frivolity and lust, a huge amount of jewelry, coins and two types of champagne glasses - wastefulness, a pipe symbolizes voluptuousness and love for fleeting pleasures. Currently, "Vanity of vanities" is in a private collection.
Harmen van Stenwijk
No less than Peter Klas, the Dutch painter Harven van Stenwijk liked to depict still lifes with skulls. Above are reproductions of the following paintings:
- Still Life Vanitas, circa 1640.
- "Allegory of the bustle of human life", circa 1640.
- "Still Life", circa 1640.
- "Still life of a sculptural bust, skull, oil lamp and other objects on a stone ledge", circa 1650.
But, unlike the works of Peter Klas, van Stenwijk did not write monotonous plots - almost always they were filled with various allegories, written in a different light and color scheme, and even the position of the skull is always different. Among the paintings presented, the similarities can be seen in the first two - they are combined by the image of the handle of a sword, shell and expensive red cloth. This means that in both cases the meaninglessness of power and authority before death was meant, as well as a hint of depravity (shell). But in the first picture, you can also see pipes and a bottle - the abuse of potions and fleeting pleasures. On the second - a variety of copper utensils, which speaks of hoarding, stinginess, which the artist also does not approve.
The third picture is completely different - it is done in bright colors, there are ripe fruits, flute, books, as well as elements of correspondence. All this, most likely, hints that even poetic young natures are prone to the fall (grapes and peaches are its symbols). The last painting again depicts tubes and weapons, but it is interesting because of the unusual abundance of busts, sculptures and portraits. Most likely, all this speaks of the human memory, which lives thanks to various memos about the deceased person.
Simon Renard de Saint-Andre
A very prolific master of this genre was the French artist Simon Renard de Saint-Andre. Above you can see copies of the following paintings:
- Vanitas, 1650
- "Still Life", circa 1650.
- Still Life Vanitas, year unknown.
- "Still Life", circa 1660.
- Still Life Vanitas, circa 1660.
Like Harmen van Stenwijk, Saint-Andre is very diverse in terms of the compositions of his still lifes. The paintings vary in light, colors and symbols. Soap bubbles can be distinguished from previously not mentioned allegorical elements. This is a reference to the Latin expression "man is a soap bubble", alluding to the transience and fragility of life. Also almost always in Vanitas Saint-Andre there are not only musical instruments, but also notes, which speaks of the ephemeral nature of being and how valuable art is in it, which can also leave a memory of a talented person after his death. Withered flowers became a kind of replacement for an extinct candle in the works of this painter.
Francis Guisbrechts
Still life with skulls of the Dutchman Francis Guisbrechts differs in an abundance of various objects. Above you can see reproductions of his paintings under the name "Vanitas" 1660, unknown and 1676 years. It is noticeable from them that Guisbrechts's skull is not the center of the plot, but only part of it, as a rule, based on a book or some other object. With such a huge number of things, you should not look for a separate subtext in each of them - all together they personify a life filled with excesses, but still leading to death.
The most interesting is the third picture, depicting a still life with a skull on an easel and with a palette - thus the artist wanted to say that he himself never forgets about death, and not only teaches others.
Philippe de Champagne
Despite the fact that the Still Life with a Skull by the French painter Philippe de Champagne was written in the mid 1670s, he refers the viewer to Vanitas’s earlier works, typical of the Renaissance, in the best traditions of Bartolomeus Brain the Elder. The image is symmetrical to the smallest detail, and all the characters are already familiar - the skull in the center, strictly in the middle, calls to forget about the bustle of vanities, the fresh tulip speaks of vanity, and the hourglass - the inexorability of time. You can see the canvas in the French Museum of Tessa.
Yurian van Streck
In turn, the Dutchman Yurian van Streck did not depart from the classic still life with a skull from the Baroque era when creating his painting on the theme of vanitas in 1680. The skull does not occupy a central position here - on the contrary, all the viewer's attention is attracted by huge lush feathers, towering in the center and clearly dividing the canvas in half. There is also a military helmet, daggers and a book with the play of Sophocles "Electra". Most likely, the play is the key to understanding the artist’s ideas - feathers probably symbolize hyperbolic vanity, delusion in their own rightness, and a helmet and daggers represent murder and revenge. An interesting element is the bright red female portrait on the scarf, which the viewer first of all takes for a shapeless stain of blood.
Paul Cezanne
Vanitas went out of fashion by the end of the 17th century, and were extremely rare in the 18th. However, they returned in the second half of the 19th century, having been reborn in the painting of impressionists, post-impressionists and expressionists. Paul Cezanne, the famous French post-impressionist painter, became one of the first revivers of still lifes with a skull. Above are reproductions of his works:
- Vanitas, 1866
- "Three Skulls", 1895th.
- "Still Life with a Skull", 1898.
- "Pyramid of Skulls", 1900.
On the first canvas you can see a clear imitation of Baroque artists - the colors, allegorical objects and even the style are similar. Three other works were written later than the first, at about the same time, and this is noticeable. They feel their own style of the artist, but the absence of any attachment to the Vanitas of the Renaissance and Baroque. “Still Life with a Skull” by Cezanne is more reminiscent of a typical student staging of a still life in which he consciously decided to move away from the canons of subtext accepted in vanitas.
Vincent van Gogh
But the work of the famous Dutch impressionist Vincent van Gogh cannot be called Vanitas in the full sense, since there is nothing other than skulls on them. But still, these are still lifes, because the skull is an inanimate object, and cannot possess a portrait. Above are reproductions of the following paintings by the master:
- "Skull with a Burning Cigarette", 1886.
- "Skull in profile", 1887.
- The Skull, 1887.
The first work was written by the artist during his studies at the school of art - van Gogh angered the senseless ban on depicting people before the basics of anatomy are completed. That is why he decided to animate the skeleton drawn by inserting a burning cigarette in his teeth. Later, Van Gogh did two educational still lifes with a skull - one in profile and the other in full view.
Pablo Picasso
The famous Spaniard Pablo Picasso also loved to write vanitas. His paintings, although executed in a symbolic expressionist manner, are still classic still lifes with a skull, in the best plot traditions. Above you can see reproductions of Picasso paintings:
- "Skull, sea urchins and lamp", 1943.
- "Still Life with a Skull and a Jug", 1943.
- Black Jug and Skull, 1946.
- "Vanitas. Skull, book and a kerosene lamp", 1946.
You can see the main subjects of the plot allegories - a kerosene lamp (instead of an oil lamp or a candle), a book, dishes. Despite the original style of the artist, even in bright colors, he manages to convey the philosophical idea of such still lifes.
Educational work
From the 17th century to this day, a still-life with a pencil, made in pencil, has been part of the training program in painting and drawing - both at universities and in art schools. Immediately after the student masters the pencil drawing of the skull from nature, observing the chiaroscuro, he is invited to write it in a full-fledged still life - usually with a candle, a book and some utensils. And only after that, novice artists begin to carry out the picturesque vanitas in color.
Strange as it may seem, still lifes with a skull are very relevant for art photos. And, as for ordinary painters, photo artists during their training necessarily build a similar still life and make training pictures. The main task of such works is color reproduction, as close as possible to the paintings of the Baroque era, as well as the abundance of various symbolic objects surrounding the skull.