A Vanitas Still Life with a Flag, Candlestick, Musical Instruments, Books, Writing Paraphernalia, Globes, and Hourglass

CC0 Public Domain Designation

1662

Edwaert Collier (Dutch, 1642–1708)

This ambitious still life conjures the complexities of Dutch colonization and cartography in the 1600s. Casually arranged on a table are a book about seafaring, which includes a map of the Americas copied from a 1660 print; a volume on the history of Holland (Oud Batavia), a clever reference to the Dutch Republic’s new territory in Indonesia (Batavia); and the terrestrial and celestial globes, positioned to show the Pacific Ocean and lands the Dutch had newly reached. While the inscriptions on the globes and the scrap of paper at right are in Latin, the other documents are in Dutch; the Dutch presence is reinforced by the flag in the background.

By 1662 the Netherlands had ceded its territory in New Holland (now Brazil) to the Portuguese, and it was also fighting with the British for New Amsterdam (now New York) in North America. The tenuous nature of these conquests is amplified by ephemeral allusions. The extinguished candle, violin with a broken string, pocket watch, and hourglass all represent the biblical passage from Ecclesiastes at far right: Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas (Vanity of vanities, all is vanity). With his striking ability to paint the printed word, Collier raised questions about the permanence of worldly accomplishments and the ambitions of humankind.

Status: On View, Gallery 212
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Edwaert Collier
Title: A Vanitas Still Life with a Flag, Candlestick, Musical Instruments, Books, Writing Paraphernalia, Globes, and Hourglass
Place: Holland (Object made in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1662
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed and dated: Eduwaert / Collier / 1662
Dimensions: 98 × 129.7 cm (38 1/2 × 51 in.); Framed: 122 × 152.4 cm (48 × 60 in.)
Credit Line: Through prior bequest of Joseph Winterbotham; Rhoades Foundation and Julius Lewis Acquisition Endowment Fund; European Painting Discretionary Fund
Reference Number: 2020.317
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/258490/manifest.json

E. Zarnowska, La Nature morte hollandaise: Les principaux représentants ses origines, son influence (Brussels/Maastricht: A. A. Stols, 1929), 11 (as, erroneously, dated 1665).
Wendela Burgemeister, Salomon Lilian Old Masters 2020 (Amsterdam: Salomon Lilian, 2020), 6-9, no. 1.
James Rondeau, ed., Paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the collection (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2025), 43 (ill.).
James Rondeau, ed., Highlights of the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2026), 78, 259, no. 53, (ill.).

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, William Ackland Memorial Art Center, The Elizabeth and Fielding Lewis Marshall Collection, March 22–April 23, 1961 (no catalogue).
London, Sotheby’s, Exhibition of the Marshall collection : which will be sold by auction by Sotheby & Co. in several parts during 1974: the exhibition to be held in the large galleries 34-35 New Bond Street, London, December 31, 1973–January 8, 1974, no. 19 (ill.).

Count Edward Raczynski, Warsaw and London, by 1929 [according to Zarnowska 1929]; probably sold to Mr. and Mrs. Fielding Lewis Marshall, Charlottesville, VA, and London, by 1961 [according to Chapel Hill 1961]; sold, Bonhams, London, March 28, 1974, lot 28. Private collector, by 1998; sold, Sotheby’s, London, December 17, 1998, lot 39. Sold, Sotheby’s, New York, January 31, 2013, lot 68, to private collector, Greenwich, CT; sold to Salomon Lilian Dutch Old Master Paintings, Amsterdam, November 20, 2019; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2020.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

On View

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

A Vanitas Still Life with a Flag, Candlestick, Musical Instruments, Books, Writing Paraphernalia, Globes, and Hourglass

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.