Vanitas (Allegory of transience)
ca. 1626
oil on canvas
130 x 105 cm
Inv. 55.275
The transience of earthly life is a frequent theme in Baroque painting. This allegory of vanity also reminds its viewers of their evanescence and invites them to repent their sins. Chronos, the allegorical figure of time arrives from the background and surprises a lute playing, lightly clad young woman, who is surrounded by jewelry and incense, the symbols of worldly pleasures. The skull and the rapidly withering red poppies that emerge from it are memento mori motifs, referring to mortal nature. The fragility of human life is also indicated by the deformation in the protagonist’s breast, caused by cancer at an advance stage. The bewilderment of the frightened woman is effectively expressed by her raised arm shown in foreshortening and emphasized by the beam of light that shines into the darkness. The work is believed to be by the half Flemish and half French Niccolò Renieri, who worked mainly in Italy. His Roman patron, the Marquis Giustiniani was also a major supporter of Caravaggio.
D.S.
