Traditional Still Lifes
Vanitas Still Life with a Skull and Nautilus Shell
Unknown Artist
A striking 17th-century Vanitas painting capturing the transient nature of life through symbolic objects and masterful light.
Vanitas Still Life with Bust
Joannes de Cordua
1665 · Oil Paint, Canvas
This dramatic 17th-century vanitas painting uses stark lighting to emphasize symbolic objects of mortality and art.
$129
For the selected configuration
From $129
5 frame sizes
Frame size
Frame color
Mount
Paper type
Glaze
Made to order in ~2 business days · Free U.S. standard shipping (typically 5–8 business days after dispatch)
Where it works
A weightier piece with steady character with warm, lived-in color — brings a composed sense of weight.
- Often works in
- Library · Study · Office
- Placement
- Reads best as a confident vertical anchor
- Walls
- Benefits from light or mid-tone surroundings
- Color notes
- Charcoal black, Rich brown, Soft white
About the piece
Created in 1665 by Joannes de Cordua, this vanitas still life is a masterful example of the genre's focus on the transience of life. The composition juxtaposes a weathered skull with a permanent stone bust, surrounded by ephemeral objects like a clay pipe and a conch shell, all emerging from a deep, atmospheric gloom that exemplifies the Baroque style.
More like this
Contains disturbing content
Dark Academia
Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette
Vincent van Gogh
An iconic and rebellious early work by Vincent van Gogh featuring a skeleton with a lit cigarette.
Contains disturbing content
Dark Academia
Vanitas Portrait of the Painter
Antonie van Steenwinckel
A striking Dutch Golden Age self-portrait rich with vanitas symbolism and dramatic chiaroscuro.
Contains disturbing content
Dark Academia
Vanitas Still Life with Skull, Wax Taper and Portable Sundial
Unknown Artist
This dramatic 17th-century vanitas painting uses stark lighting to meditate on the fleeting nature of life and time.
Contains disturbing content
Dark Academia
Landscape with a Graveyard by Night
Matthias Withoos
A masterfully atmospheric nocturnal scene by Matthias Withoos, blending classical ruins with a somber vanitas composition.
Contains nudity
Figure Studies
Allegory of Transience
Erasmus Quellinus II
A masterful Baroque allegory exploring the fleeting nature of life through the juxtaposition of youth and mortality.
