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21 of 1571

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Henrick Andriessen (1607 - 1655)

Still Life with Mask

A529; oil on canvas; 48 x 43 cm

Signed (?): h. andriessens fecit

Bequeathed by Daisy Linda Ward, 1939; WA1940.2.5

Meijer 2003, no. 5

This painting is a vanitas, a still-life painting of impermanent things. The violin, whose sound fades, the soap bubbles, the burning taper and the watch recall the transience of the world (the globe) and the brevity of life (the skull). The appearance of the same skull in three paintings by Pieter van Willigen and similar links in other works has led to the attribution of works by Andriessen to van Willigen, who may have been his pupil.

Information derived from the The Ashmolean Museum index.php/complete Illustrated Catalogue of Paintings.