Vanitas Still Life

This still life comes with its own key. Among the things on the stone table lies a sheet of paper that names the objects painted around it, each one tied to a passage from the Bible, so the picture tells you how to read it. And there is a lot to read. A vase of flowers stands in the middle, surrounded by a casket full of gold coins, a child's rattle, a medallion, oranges and roses, a skull wearing a wreath of flowers, a book, a watch, the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments and a sunflower. Maria van Oosterwijck painted it in Amsterdam around 1675 and signed it. The Rijksmuseum bought it only in January 2023, with help from the VriendenLoterij, a Dutch charity lottery, and from a fund set up to bring more work by women artists into the collection.