[PREORDER] Vanitas Still Life

This product is a preorder and will not be shipped if purchased. It will be shipped at the start of June. Thank you for understanding. <3

Information about this painting:
This detailed painting is one of the best works by Dutch artist François van Daellen, who was known for his still-life paintings. He had a careful and skilled style, which let him realistically show different textures. In this painting, he shows a skull and thigh bone resting on scattered books and papers. You can clearly see the smooth surface of the bone, the fragile look of the paper, and even the faint smoke rising from a candle that has just gone out.

These kinds of objects—bones, skulls, and snuffed candles—are common in vanitas still lifes. These paintings were meant to remind viewers that life is short and that time passes quickly. Books in these paintings often represent knowledge or creativity, and they can suggest that ideas live on even after we’re gone. But they can also show that, in the end, human achievements don’t last forever. In Dutch still lifes, objects often had more than one meaning.

Although Van Daellen painted this piece in The Hague, it’s easy to imagine it hanging in a scholar’s study, maybe in a city like Leiden. The arched frame he painted around the scene makes it feel personal and intimate, and the small size of the painting suggests it was meant for private reflection.