Sebastien Stoskopff (Strasbourg 1597 - Idstein 1657), Vanitas with a vase of theriac. Oil on panel, 48 x 65 cm. Signed and dated 1627. Photo courtesy David Koetser Gallery

This painting is a true masterpiece of the Vanitas genre. Against a dark background, and on a stone table, a skull without lower jaw seems to bite the book it is resting on. To the right is a flask containing a juice or a liquor made of lemon labelled in Latin “Succucz limonum” and dated 1627, along with a travelling vanity set. To the left, on a precariously placed wooden box, is a majolica vase containing theriac an antidote to poison. The sweetmeat box placed on the edge of the shelf showing that the sweetness of life can easily be unbalanced and that the Theriaca can be used to protect oneself from ills. The presence of products of the pharmacopoeia of the time in a composition is highly original. 

On the right sits a glass jar of Liquid labeled Succes Limonum (lemon juice) a reference to the bitterness of life and offers an opposite to the sweetmeats (bitter/sweet).

In the foreground a leather vanity case holding tweezers, scissors and a comb used for grooming. In life one can use this for grooming perhaps in an attempt to hold on to beauty and youthfulness, an attempt at hiding the advancing years.

The chip in the centre of the stone ledge id there to remind the viewer that all is not perfect in life.

The book into which the skull seems to bite is an indication of wisdom and knowledge that you absorb during our lives. However we must remember that we all end up as a skull for our final journey- the skull being the ultimate symbol of the vanitas.

Provenance: Private collection, France

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