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Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
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LicenseWax model of a female head depicting life and death, European
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Wax model of a female head depicting life and death, European
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Wax model of a female head depicting life and death, European
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Wax model of a female head depicting life and death, European
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Wax model of a female head depicting life and death, European
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Wax model of a female head depicting life and death, European
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Wax model of a female head depicting life and death, European
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Wax model of a female head depicting life and death, European, possibly 18th century
This is a wax model of a female head depicting life and death. One side shows a beautiful woman; the other shows the head exposed as a skull and with worms and snails on and around it. The head is mounted on a base which has an inscription attached: 'Vanitas Vanitatum & omia Vanitas Ecc: Cap i/V2'. This is from the Bible, Ecclesiastes, chapter 1, verse 2, which is translated in full in the New English Bible as "Emptiness, emptiness, says the speaker, emptiness, all is empty". The model is European, possibly from the 18th century.
Vanitas are works of art intended to remind the viewer of the shortness of human life, the uselessness of vanity and the certainty of death. This example features many symbols typical for this type of object, such as a skull and insects that feast on decaying flesh.
Details
- Category:
- Anatomy & Pathology
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A99821
- Measurements:
-
overall: 387 mm x 344 mm x 247 mm,
- type:
- vanitas
- credit:
- Born-Traub
