The plastic arts are represented by a palette loaded with brushes and an old head, music by a score, letters by an inkwell and several books, and geography by a globe. The vanitas character of the work is underlined by the presence of a skull crowned with laurel on the left side of the canvas, an unequivocal symbol of the triumph of death and the vanity of earthly achievements. The symbology of the work seems clear: the futility of accumulating knowledge and fame in the face of the inexorability of death. Object Type: painting. Genre: allegory. Date: 1649. Dimensions: height: 82 cm (32.2 in); width: 116 cm (45.6 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Museo del Prado. Alegoría de las Artes y las Ciencias, de Ignacio Raeth (Museo del Prado)
Loading...
