Vanitas with Skull and Roses

Helena Brouwer · 1648

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

62 × 78 cm

A masterwork of the Dutch vanitas tradition — Brouwer arranges the objects of earthly pleasure and the emblems of mortality with almost unbearable precision. The rose at peak bloom touches the polished skull. The hourglass is half-spent. A single candle throws everything into amber relief.