An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life

This is 'An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life' by Harmen Steenwyck 1621. As part of my OU course I have to write a descriptive account of this. Now as a self-styled 'bloke' I have almost never visited an art gallery and rarely on purpose so; how about this then:-

At 39.2 cm high by 50.7 cm across the objects in the picture would be rendered slightly less than life size and, allowing for viewpoint and perspective, the proportions would appear realistic. The perspective gives us an angle of vision low down, at just above the height of the table, as if the viewer is seated at a slight distance from the table contemplating the objects.

The objects are bundled together to the right of the frame, except the shell which seems to balance precariously on the left front edge of the table. The skull is prominent at the front of the composition, two thirds from the left and two thirds from the top. This placing makes the viewer focus on the skull, and then the eye drifts outwards taking in the other objects.

The picture is lit from above and to the left, as if from a high window. The light comes down in a shaft rather in the nature of a spotlight, highlighting the objects and leaving the rest of the picture dark. The room and background are bare and sparse, almost cell-like. The painter is saying ‘Look at these things. What do you see?’

The tonal range is wide, giving the objects a realistic and dramatic aspect. The colour range is mostly browns and gold, autumnal colours. The pink cloth is a counterpoint, perhaps to remind us of the gaiety of life in contrast to the more serious symbolic imagery.

The objects are: a lute, a shawm, a flute, two books, a dying taper, a shell, a Japanese sword, a chronometer, and a flask. The musical instruments symbolising the pleasures of the senses; the books, learning and knowledge; the sword and shell, wealth; the snuffed-out lamp and the chronometer, the transience of life; the skull, death.