Vanitas

Peschier, a seventeenth-century painter active in Holland, but possibly of French origin, signed and dated a handful of fine still lifes. This Vanitas is a particularly successful and intricate example of his work. A vanitas is intended to encourage the viewer to reflect on the vanity of worldly possessions and aspirations by depicting objects that symbolize the transience of earthly existence and pleasures. The brilliantly rendered crumpled paper found here further emphasizes the impermanency of all things.