Tapestries
Description: Ontbijt is Dutch for Breakfast - so the image is a "breakfast study" - we'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the contents of the glass to be apple juice I reckon. While the Fruit is basically all about Fertility and Abundance , the fall of man is often denoted by pears, grapes and of course Apple. Erotic undertones are are also denoted by the plums, and apple. Sea shells, or occasionally a living snail, are the remains of once-living animal, and hence signify death and frailty. Also, exotic shells denote Travel and the Wealth required to do so in this era - no RyanAir in the 17th Century... The Globe, again denoting Travel and it's implied wealth and Books: Human knowledge and its temporary nature. Candle...
Description: Vanitas still life paintings are mostly associated with the 16c and 17c Netherlands and Flanders painters. Heavily symbol laden, they were usually meant as a reminder of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. They also provided a moral justification for many paintings of attractive objects. In this image I have included a number of Vanitas symbols... The skull, a reminder of the certainty of death; Over Ripe Fruit, which symbolizes the decay of ageing, and the ephemeral nature of life... also a peeled lemon, which is like life, attractive to look at, but bitter to taste.; Smoke, and the almost burned out Candle which symbolize the brevity of life; The Cards and Dice are an obvious ref...
Description: Vanitas still life paintings are mostly associated with the 16c and 17c Netherlands and Flanders painters. Heavily symbol laden, they were usually meant as a reminder of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. They also provided a moral justification for many paintings of attractive objects. In this image I have included a number of Vanitas symbols... The skull, a reminder of the certainty of death; Over Ripe Fruit, which symbolizes the decay of ageing, and the ephemeral nature of life... also a peeled lemon, which is like life, attractive to look at, but bitter to taste.; Smoke, and the almost burned out Candle which symbolize the brevity of life; The Cards and Dice are an obvious ref...
Description: The sands of time have run out for most of this - Fob Watches - Italian Lira, Yugoslavian coins, Hourglasses - Even Books and Globes have their alternatives on the Internet... And of course Eddie's seen better days, as has his Rose. And we could always throw away the pince-nez and get laser eye surgery. All we have to do is swap Keys for PIN numbers, and a pair of Dice for a randon number generator and we could throw this all away. Or maybe not!
