vanitas

[ van-i-tahs ]

/ ˈvæn ɪˌtɑs /

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noun

a type of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands from about 1620 to 1650, conveying a religious message and characterized by objects symbolic of mortality and the meaninglessness of worldly pleasures.

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Origin of vanitas

1905–10; Latin: literally, vanity

Words nearby vanitas

vanillin, Vanir, vanish, vanishing cream, vanishing point, vanitas, vanitory, vanity, vanity bag, vanity case, Vanity Fair

How to use vanitas in a sentence

Is it possible then that thy name is also vanitas vanitatum, like the other things of this world?
From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan|Helena Pretrovna Blavatsky
Of my three frivolous women, another performed the miracle herself, and abandoned freely the service of the great Goddess Vanitas.
Vanitas|Vernon Lee
Or, is it about a woman who wears her life away in the farce of 'Vanitas Vanitatum?'
Discourses of Keidansky|Bernard G. Richards
Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas—Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood

Similis reviviscendi promissa Democrito vanitas, qui non revixit ipse.
The Works of Sir Thomas Browne|Thomas Browne