Title
Allegory of Vanity, by Molenaer (1633)
Creator
Molenaer, Jan Miense (c. 1610-1668)
Date
1633
Description
Although it is a clear case of Vanitas, with the skull, the mirror and the soap bubbles, the character of the woman who combs the young woman's hair wears an orientalizing headdress common in portraits of procuresses in Dutch paintings at the time. Also, the young woman is looking at a ring that appears to be a gift from a suitor. The instruments on the wall, especially the lute, a word that in Dutch also meant vagina, as well as the flutes and clarinets with phallic connotations point to a sexual subtext.
Source
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, The US.
http://emuseum.toledomuseum.org/objects/55289/allegory-of-vanity
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20211221021649/http://emuseum.toledomuseum.org/objects/55289/allegory-of-vanity
Inventory number: 1975.21
Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Miense_Molenaer_-_Allegory_of_Vanity_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150420230606/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Miense_Molenaer_-_Allegory_of_Vanity_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
http://emuseum.toledomuseum.org/objects/55289/allegory-of-vanity
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20211221021649/http://emuseum.toledomuseum.org/objects/55289/allegory-of-vanity
Inventory number: 1975.21
Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Miense_Molenaer_-_Allegory_of_Vanity_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150420230606/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Miense_Molenaer_-_Allegory_of_Vanity_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Format
Oil on canvas.
Dimensions: 102 × 127 cm
Dimensions: 102 × 127 cm
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