“Vanitas- Still Life with Books and Manuscripts and a Skull”

 

“Vanitas- Still Life with Books and Manuscripts and a Skull” By: Edwaert Collier (1663)

Collier effectively uses the technique of randomness in this painting: There is simply a collection of random objects from books, to a recorder, and a glass jar among other things

The randomness of the objects certainly grabs the viewers attention and causes one to intently look at each individual object in the painting. It sparks curiosity

The placement of the objects- overlapping one another- emphasize that there is in fact no focal point.

The is a great degree of variety in this painting, however it is not jarring or overwhelming because of subtle colors in the painting. There is a common color of a dark, earthy green which helps create unity among the chaos of the objects