Still Life with Books
Grey and brown tints dominate this composition, and a shadow spreads slowly over the wall. The painting
alludes to the fleetingness of life. The battered books allude to transience. The music produced by the lute
is momentary, a symbol of the brevity of life. A literal reference to death is inscribed on the sheet of paper
draped over the table’s edge: ‘finis’ ([the] end).
Publisher
- Rijksmuseum
Subject
- http://iconclass.org/11R6
- http://iconclass.org/49M32
- http://iconclass.org/48C7323
- Book
Type of item
- painting
- Art of painting
Medium
- Gift of the heirs of C. Hoogendijk, The Hague
Publisher
- Rijksmuseum
Subject
- http://iconclass.org/11R6
- http://iconclass.org/49M32
- http://iconclass.org/48C7323
- Book
Type of item
- painting
- Art of painting
Medium
- Gift of the heirs of C. Hoogendijk, The Hague
Providing institution
Aggregator
Rights statement for the media in this item (unless otherwise specified)
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Rights
- Public Domain
- Publiek Domein
Creation date
- 1625 - 1630
- 1625/1630
- 1625/1630
Place-Time
- second quarter 17th century
Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.8638
- SK-A-2565
Extent
- height 26.5 cm
- width 41.5 cm
Format
- panel
- oil paint (paint)
Language
- nl
Is part of
- collection: paintings
- collectie: schilderijen
Providing country
- Netherlands
Collection name
First time published on Europeana
- 2014-05-27T20:14:37.071Z
Last time updated from providing institution
- 2018-03-17T14:37:37.516Z