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A human skull, a large bone, books, papers, and a snuffed out, smoking candle are arranged on a marble tabletop near an open window in a darkened room in this vertical still life painting. The color palette is dominated by muted gray, slate blue, ivory white, and tawny brown. Near the bottom center of the composition, the skull faces our left in profile and rests on two small, leather-bound books and papers with illegible black printing. The large bone, a thighbone, is propped up behind the skull on a taller book at the back of the skull. More books, papers, and a box are piled to the right. A brass candlestick with a flat, shallow, dish-like base rests on the box along the right side of the composition, above the skull. The end of the candlewick glows red and a wisp of smoke wafts up. The brick red of the marble tabletop is veined with gray and white, and black fabric drapes down off the right side of the table. The objects fill the lower half of the composition and are lit by light coming in through a window to our left. The wooden window frame swings inward, into the room, and has small, leaded panes. The background is deep in black shadow.
François van Daellen, Vanitas Still Life, c. 1650, oil on paper laid down on panel, Nell and Robert Weidenhammer Fund, 2014.58.1

Vanitas Still Life

François van Daellen · c. 1650 · oil on paper laid down on panel ·  Accession ID  2014.58.1