Vanitas is a type of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. Typically, these paintings contain collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly pleasures. Evolving from simple drawings of skulls hidden within a work, gradually many other symbols of vanity and death were frequently disguised within paintings, or painted on the reverse during the late Renaissance period. Still-life painting finally acquired an independent status by c. 1550 and by 1620, it had become a very popular art genre. Despite its decline in 1650, Vanitas art is still very popular in our contemporary society, which can be seen through the prevalence of contemporary Vanitas works, and many Vanitas inspired works.
Vanitas is the Latin word meaning ‘vanity’. Paintings that executed in the Vanitas style aimed at reminding the viewers of the brevity of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, through symbols and symbolic objects. They aimed at emphasizing humanity’s total depravity and providing a moral justification for paintings of vain objects – particularly those of the dominating Baroque Period of the 17th century, within which the aim was to overwhelm the spectator with ornate and highly dramatized themes. Common Vanitas symbols include skulls – a reminder of the certainty of death; rotten fruit – symbolizing inevitable decay; bubbles, smoke, watched and hourglasses – all symbolic of the swiftness of life. More than often, broken crockery and broken mirrors are also incorporated as they hold a strong significance regarding the imperfections of life, pleasure and egotism.
Juan Sánchez Cotán is a Spanish Baroque painter, whom under a Venetian influence, painted many Vanitas still life paintings. Cotán was an early pioneer of Tenebrism – an art technique also known as ‘dramatic illumination’, in which violent contrasts of light and dark add drama to the painting, very popular in the Baroque period. One of his most famous works, titled ‘Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber’; is a Spanish, still life Vanitas. Unlike the traditional Dutch still life Vanitas’, this painting lacks the kind of decorative splendor often associated with these works. Looking from high left to lower right, we see a suspended quince, a rather pompous suspended cabbage, a partially sliced melon, and overhanging the lower right edge, a cucumber. Parallel to the picture plane, a smooth frame delineates the opening for a window.
Whilst the subjects of this painting seem relatively uninteresting, they all hold significant symbolism; and are perfect representations of the Vanitas art genre. Fruit and vegetables are a common feature in many Vanitas works. They are a symbol of the transience of life, decay and the inevitability of death. The painting depicts a cantarera, a “cooling space” such as a cold cellar, where produce such as the quince, cabbage, melon, and cucumber could be kept from spoiling. The suspension of the quince and the cabbage in this work may be symbolic of trying to preserve life, or trying to sustain a transient youth; protecting these pleasures from vermin. The hanging may also be figurative of keeping out of death’s reach. They remain suspended so they cannot be grasped by death and decay. The relative positioning of the objects, by being set apart, creates a spiritual aura. They seem close enough to touch; yet they are nevertheless distanced – a trompe l'oeil effect that was particularly popular in Netherlandish painting in the 17th century. The isolation of each object, heightened by a further blackened background, lends each of them a monumental, almost sculptural gravity.
Juan Sánchez Cotán’s work even though simple, is one of the most famous Spanish still life Vanitas’ from the 17th century; and has been the inspiration for many modern day Vanitas style works. Israeli-born photographer and artist, Ori Gersht, creates traditional still-life Vanitas arrangements with real fruits and flowers—and then literally blows them up, capturing it all on video. His 2006 work titled ‘Pomegranate’; is a sequence of photographs that depict a bullet being shot through a suspended pomegranate, in a still life set up of Cotán’s ‘Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber’.
Gersht’s work could easily be mistaken for an old master painting, he arranges the subjects to such precision that the lighting, shadowing, and perspective of depth are almost identical. The only significant difference being, the traditional suspended quince has been replaced with a pomegranate. Gersht’s work, like that of Cotán’s; although simple on the surface, the works hold layers of symbolic meaning. “Ori grew up amidst fear and violence in a land of stunning physical beauty and great history,” said Al Miner, who organised the exhibition within which ‘Pomegranate’ was shown. “At the heart of Ori’s work is this intersection of beauty and violence. It’s an almost subversive approach to using aesthetics to lure a viewer into dealing with subject matter that’s very difficult.”
Gersht has based this work around a concept that was very frequent at the time of traditional Vanitas paintings in the 17th century. The notion that everything has and is a cycle. These thoughts were very dominant in the 17th century during the start of the Renaissance, a period of new thinking and re-discovery. ‘Pomegranate’ focuses on the cycle of creation and destruction; how they exist side by side, and how they can both be taken away in fleeting moments. An obvious connection to the brevity and transience of life and all vanity can be seen through the expression of this work. The use of a gun to shoot the pomegranate is symbolic of the speed at which something can be destroyed; the speed at which life can be overtaken by death. The pomegranate, once shot, sprays a deep red juice, resembling closely to blood. Blood holds s significantly symbolic duality. It can be both a symbol of life, and a symbol of death. The ‘blood’ from the pomegranate and the gunshot are both symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience of life.
However, in contrast to the traditional painting work of Cotán, Gersht transfers the Vanitas genre into a contemporary artwork, through the use of his selective modern media. Using a HD digital camera, Gersht captures 1,600 frames per second, moments that are too quick for the mind to process. Using computer software, he is able to freeze frame high-speed movement, eventually producing a sequence of photographed stills.
Juan Sánchez Cotán’s ‘Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber’, and Ori Gersht’s ‘Pomegranate’ are both exquisite examples of works from in the Vanitas genre. Cotán’s work is a traditional still life Vanitas from the 17th century; whereas Gersht’s is a contemporary 21st century – Vanitas inspired work. Nevertheless, both these works demonstrate the features and key characteristics of the Vanitas genre, which continues to be popular in our modern society.
Image Courtesy of: http://www.artiscontemporary.org/media/files/21337f617ceb74d24656e22371ce5996.jpg and http://www.sdmart.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/must_see_550w/194543_0.jpg.crop_display_0.jpg
Vanitas is the Latin word meaning ‘vanity’. Paintings that executed in the Vanitas style aimed at reminding the viewers of the brevity of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, through symbols and symbolic objects. They aimed at emphasizing humanity’s total depravity and providing a moral justification for paintings of vain objects – particularly those of the dominating Baroque Period of the 17th century, within which the aim was to overwhelm the spectator with ornate and highly dramatized themes. Common Vanitas symbols include skulls – a reminder of the certainty of death; rotten fruit – symbolizing inevitable decay; bubbles, smoke, watched and hourglasses – all symbolic of the swiftness of life. More than often, broken crockery and broken mirrors are also incorporated as they hold a strong significance regarding the imperfections of life, pleasure and egotism.
Juan Sánchez Cotán is a Spanish Baroque painter, whom under a Venetian influence, painted many Vanitas still life paintings. Cotán was an early pioneer of Tenebrism – an art technique also known as ‘dramatic illumination’, in which violent contrasts of light and dark add drama to the painting, very popular in the Baroque period. One of his most famous works, titled ‘Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber’; is a Spanish, still life Vanitas. Unlike the traditional Dutch still life Vanitas’, this painting lacks the kind of decorative splendor often associated with these works. Looking from high left to lower right, we see a suspended quince, a rather pompous suspended cabbage, a partially sliced melon, and overhanging the lower right edge, a cucumber. Parallel to the picture plane, a smooth frame delineates the opening for a window.
Whilst the subjects of this painting seem relatively uninteresting, they all hold significant symbolism; and are perfect representations of the Vanitas art genre. Fruit and vegetables are a common feature in many Vanitas works. They are a symbol of the transience of life, decay and the inevitability of death. The painting depicts a cantarera, a “cooling space” such as a cold cellar, where produce such as the quince, cabbage, melon, and cucumber could be kept from spoiling. The suspension of the quince and the cabbage in this work may be symbolic of trying to preserve life, or trying to sustain a transient youth; protecting these pleasures from vermin. The hanging may also be figurative of keeping out of death’s reach. They remain suspended so they cannot be grasped by death and decay. The relative positioning of the objects, by being set apart, creates a spiritual aura. They seem close enough to touch; yet they are nevertheless distanced – a trompe l'oeil effect that was particularly popular in Netherlandish painting in the 17th century. The isolation of each object, heightened by a further blackened background, lends each of them a monumental, almost sculptural gravity.
Juan Sánchez Cotán’s work even though simple, is one of the most famous Spanish still life Vanitas’ from the 17th century; and has been the inspiration for many modern day Vanitas style works. Israeli-born photographer and artist, Ori Gersht, creates traditional still-life Vanitas arrangements with real fruits and flowers—and then literally blows them up, capturing it all on video. His 2006 work titled ‘Pomegranate’; is a sequence of photographs that depict a bullet being shot through a suspended pomegranate, in a still life set up of Cotán’s ‘Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber’.
Gersht’s work could easily be mistaken for an old master painting, he arranges the subjects to such precision that the lighting, shadowing, and perspective of depth are almost identical. The only significant difference being, the traditional suspended quince has been replaced with a pomegranate. Gersht’s work, like that of Cotán’s; although simple on the surface, the works hold layers of symbolic meaning. “Ori grew up amidst fear and violence in a land of stunning physical beauty and great history,” said Al Miner, who organised the exhibition within which ‘Pomegranate’ was shown. “At the heart of Ori’s work is this intersection of beauty and violence. It’s an almost subversive approach to using aesthetics to lure a viewer into dealing with subject matter that’s very difficult.”
Gersht has based this work around a concept that was very frequent at the time of traditional Vanitas paintings in the 17th century. The notion that everything has and is a cycle. These thoughts were very dominant in the 17th century during the start of the Renaissance, a period of new thinking and re-discovery. ‘Pomegranate’ focuses on the cycle of creation and destruction; how they exist side by side, and how they can both be taken away in fleeting moments. An obvious connection to the brevity and transience of life and all vanity can be seen through the expression of this work. The use of a gun to shoot the pomegranate is symbolic of the speed at which something can be destroyed; the speed at which life can be overtaken by death. The pomegranate, once shot, sprays a deep red juice, resembling closely to blood. Blood holds s significantly symbolic duality. It can be both a symbol of life, and a symbol of death. The ‘blood’ from the pomegranate and the gunshot are both symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience of life.
However, in contrast to the traditional painting work of Cotán, Gersht transfers the Vanitas genre into a contemporary artwork, through the use of his selective modern media. Using a HD digital camera, Gersht captures 1,600 frames per second, moments that are too quick for the mind to process. Using computer software, he is able to freeze frame high-speed movement, eventually producing a sequence of photographed stills.
Juan Sánchez Cotán’s ‘Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber’, and Ori Gersht’s ‘Pomegranate’ are both exquisite examples of works from in the Vanitas genre. Cotán’s work is a traditional still life Vanitas from the 17th century; whereas Gersht’s is a contemporary 21st century – Vanitas inspired work. Nevertheless, both these works demonstrate the features and key characteristics of the Vanitas genre, which continues to be popular in our modern society.
Image Courtesy of: http://www.artiscontemporary.org/media/files/21337f617ceb74d24656e22371ce5996.jpg and http://www.sdmart.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/must_see_550w/194543_0.jpg.crop_display_0.jpg