An Interesting Flemish Carved Fruitwood Vanitas of a Human Skull

Period: 1600-1700

Origin: Flemish

Medium: Fruitwood

Literature: What man most fears is death : the final element of earthly life, and today this fear is suppressed and kept out of sight. Artists have used the skull as a personification of death for centuries and to the Renaissance and Baroque mind it was important to remember and be reminded of the transience of human existence. Death was regarded as an integral part of life, ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’ : thus passes the glory of the world, and as such was not be feared.