Allegory of the Arts and Sciences
1649. Oil on canvas.Room auxiliar de lectura
The visual arts are represented by a palette filled with brushes and an ancient head; music, by a score; literature by an inkwell and several books; and geography by a globe. This work´s character as a Vanitas is emphasized by the laurel-crowned skull at the left, an unmistakable symbol of death´s triumph and of the vanity of human achievements. The work´s symbolic content seems clear: the futility of accumulating wisdom and fame in light of inexorable death. Its author was a painter of Flemish origin only known to have worked in Madrid.
