An Interesting Flemish Carved Fruitwood Vanitas of a Human Skull with a Serpent or Viper. Early – Mid 17th Century. Photo courtesy Finch & Co

Size : 9 cm high, 8.5 cm wide, 9 cm deep – 3½ ins high, 3¼ ins wide, 3½ ins deep - SOLD

Literature: What man most fears is death : the final element of earthly life, and today this fear is suppressed and kept out of sight. Artists have used the skull as a personification of death for centuries and to the Renaissance and Baroque mind it was important to remember and be reminded of the transience of human existence. Death was regarded as an integral part of life, ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’ : thus passes the glory of the world, and as such was not be feared.

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