A Vanitas

c. 1856

Jean-Baptiste Frénet

Associated Names
Jean-Baptiste Frénet

Artist, French, 1814 - 1889

The image shows a young man from the waist up, seated at a small round table. He faces the camera directly, has short dark hair, a full beard and mustache, and wears a checkered suit jacket over a waistcoat with a white shirt. He is holding a human skull in his right hand, which rests on the table covered in a patterned cloth. His left hand is placed on the skull. The background appears blurred, suggesting an outdoor setting with foliage.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Charles Isaacs Photographs, Malvern, PA; NGA purchase, 2001.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2019

  • The Eye of the Sun: Nineteenth-Century Photographs from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019, unnumbered catalogue.

Wikidata ID

Q64155615

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