Young woman with a skull Memento Mori, by Vaillant (1658, c.)

Young woman with a skull Memento Mori, by Vaillant (1658, c.)

Original title: Jonge vrouw met een schedel Memento Mori ("Young woman with a skull Memento Mori").

A young woman, who is well dressed and wearing a pearl necklace and earrings, holds a skull in her hands while she stares at it.

Gender perspective: The way she is caressing the skull gives the scene an erotic tone of a woman caressing the face of her lost lover or husband. At the same time, the tradition of death and the mirror makes of the skull a female skull, a representation of herself. This ambiguity is embedded in the image, and at the same time, set aside by death's lack of gender.

Vaillant, Wallerant (1623-1677)

1658, c.

Paper.
Dimensions: 22.5 × 18.1 cm