1
Portfolios%20%3D%20%222152%22%20and%20Sort_Artist%20%3D%20%22Mieris%20the%20Elder,%20Frans%20van%22%20and%20Century%20%3D%20%2216th-17th%20Centuries%22
Painting
Allegory of Vanity: Lady with a Mirror
Flemish artist
Flemish artist
Flanders
Primary
Mieris the Elder, Frans van
Netherlands
1635 - 1681
Male
Previous attribution
13 x 10 in. (33 x 25.4 cm)
.
.
.
.
.
.
overall
frame
Oil
Oil
ca. 1600
1595
1605
1400-1600, 1600-1800, 17th century, allegories, figure, flowers in art, paintings, women
Painting
This painting has all the elements of the Christian medieval tradition of an allegory of vanity, or the personification of all the temptations and vain pleasures of the world. The painter drew on a wide vocabulary of images to suggest the transience of the material world. In this painting, dressed in fine clothes and bedecked in jewels, the woman seems to be turning away from the mirror, the symbol of vanity. In reality, though, out of the corner of her eye she gazes approvingly at her own reflection. The mirror also represents the idea of false appearances; her jewels symbolize the dangerous allure of wealth. Fresh flowers, beautiful for only a few days, suggest the fleeting nature of beauty; the book on her table refers to earthly rather than spiritual knowledge.
[Gallery label text, 2005]
back of frameback of panel
1955.132
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/20/2001
55.132SL1
slide
full
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
glossy
full
8 x 10
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
negative
full
8 x 10
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
55.132DI1
digital image
5/16/2002
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/55.132_I1.jpg
55.132DI2
digital image
full
2 x 2
6/14/2002
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/55.132_A1.jpg
55.132DI3
digital image
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
55.132DI4
condition
digital image
full including frame
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/Inventory pictures/55.132_I2.jpg
55.132DI#5
digital image
6/22/2010
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/55.132_A2.jpg
x-ray
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif