Still Life. Skull and Writing Quill

Pieter Claesz arranged this vanitas composition featuring a skull, writing implements, and other objects symbolizing life's brevity. The bleached skull dominates the composition, surrounded by a quill pen, overturned glass, and books. Soft light plays across the objects with characteristic Dutch precision.

Vanitas paintings reminded viewers of mortality and the futility of earthly pursuits. Claesz was a master of this Dutch Golden Age genre, creating meditative compositions from simple objects. Now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.