Vanitas still life

This painting looks like a combination of several smaller still lifes. In the foreground, to the right, are a number of musical instruments. They are lying beside a piece of armour and various books. More books are shown on the table, along with a plaster statue, some bones, a skull and various artist's materials. From the skull and bones, it is clear that this painting is about transience, or vanitasVanitasVanitas is related to the word vanity and to transience. The term refers to the opening verse of Ecclesiastes in the Latin Bible 'Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas': vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Seventeenth-century Dutch paintings often feature symbols of transience, especially still lifes. Skulls, hourglasses, extinguished candles and similar elements refer to the evanescence of existence. Vanitas paintings are intended to remind the viewer of how short life is and that it should be lived with due regard to God's laws.. The watch and the fading oil lamp refer to the passage of time, while the musical instruments symbolise the ephemeral nature of music.