Vanitas
This superbly rich Flemish still-life is of a type known as a Vanitas, a collection of objects assembled to remind the spectator of lifeâs transience and the folly of worldly pleasures. For example, the hourglass and burnt-out candle represent the passing of time; the will and skull signify death and the bubbles, violin bow and wine glass refer to the superficial pleasures of the present. The portrait remains an enigma and is clearly not the artist himself. Gysbrechtâs style is slick and technically skilled. He delights in depicting the different textures and materials of the objects before him; he carries this to an extreme in the illusion of torn canvas, an effect known as trompe lâoeil - to âdeceive the eyeâ.
