vanitas

American  

[van-i-tahs] / ˈvæn ɪˌtɑs /

noun

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of vanitas

1905–10; Latin: literally, vanity

Example Sentences

Harnett had much simpler taste than his patrons, and while “Ease” is not a vanitas painting auguring death, he was known for incorporating traces of humor and irony in his paintings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Yet pronk works carried deeper meanings as the earliest forms of vanitas, a genre that uses symbolism to convey the brevity of life and futility of pleasure.

From Salon • Mar. 10, 2024

The modern vanitas also skewers the superficial and worldly, focusing on darker truths, insidious causes and structural failures.

From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2022

It’s a Conceptual art interpretation of an old vanitas motif in painting.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2018

Only last night he reminded me of an illustration of the vanitas vanitatum of human fame and national gratitude, to be found over yonder in the necropolis.

From At the Mercy of Tiberius by Evans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)