Pieter Claesz

Vanitas Still Life

Pieter Claesz  Vanitas-stilleven
Pieter Claesz  Vanitas-stilleven
Pieter Claesz  Vanitas-stilleven
Pieter Claesz  Vanitas-stilleven
Pieter Claesz  Vanitas-stilleven
Pieter Claesz  Vanitas-stilleven

Pieter Claesz
Vanitas Still Life

1630 On view in Room 13

A snuffed-out candle, an empty glass, a watch and a skull. This is no random collection of objects. Each one conveys a message of mortality. Memento mori – remember you must die.

The Haarlem artist Pieter Claesz became well-known for his still-lifes featuring a limited palette. In this painting, for example, besides using brown and green, he only used a dash of blue for the ribbon of the watch. He needed no more colour than that to make it look true to life.

Technical details

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Pieter Claesz  Vanitas-stilleven

Pieter Claesz
Vanitas Still Life

1630 On view in Room 13

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Details

General information
Pieter Claesz (Berchem 1597/1598 - 1661 Haarlem)
Vanitas Still Life
1630
painting
943
Room 13
Material and technical details
oil
panel
39.5 x 56 cm
Inscriptions
right of centre, on the book: PC. Ao. 1630
PC in ligature

Provenance

(?) Hendrik Six, Amsterdam (sale Amsterdam, 25 November 1851); sale Stockholm, Bukowski, 25 September 1929, lot 9; David Hultmark, Saltsjöbaden, Sweden (sale Stockholm, Bukowski, 26 October 1960, lot 267); S. Nijstad Gallery, The Hague, 1960; purchased with the support of the Openbaar Kunstbezit Foundation and the Rembrandt Association, 1960