Vanity

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Vanitas (Latin for vanity) by
Leon Bazille Perrault, 1886 Perrault Leon Jean Basile Vanitas.jpg
Vanitas (Latin for vanity) by Léon Bazille Perrault, 1886

Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century, it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant futility. [1] The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic synonym for vanity, but originally meant considering one's own capabilities and that God's help was not needed, i.e. unjustified boasting; [2] although glory is now seen as having a predominantly positive meaning,[ citation needed ] the Latin term from which it derives, gloria, roughly means boasting, and was often used as a negative criticism. [3]

Contents

Religion and philosophy

In many religions, vanity, in its modern sense, is considered a form of self-idolatry in which one likens oneself to the greatness of God for the sake of one's own image, and thereby becomes separated and perhaps in time divorced from the Divine grace of God. In Christian teachings, vanity is an example of pride, one of the seven deadly sins. Also, in the Baháʼí Faith, Baha'u'llah uses the term 'vain imaginings'. [4]

Philosophically, vanity may be a broader form of egotism and pride. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that "vanity is the fear of appearing original: it is thus a lack of pride, but not necessarily a lack of originality." [5] One of Mason Cooley's aphorisms is "Vanity well fed is benevolent. Vanity hungry is spiteful." [5]

Symbolism

Nosce Te Ipsum (Allegory of Vanity), engraving by Jacob Neefs after a drawing by Jacob Jordaens Jacob Neefs, Jacob Jordaens (after) - Nosce Te Ipsum (Allegory of Vanity).jpg
Nosce Te Ipsum (Allegory of Vanity), engraving by Jacob Neefs after a drawing by Jacob Jordaens

In Western art, vanity was often symbolized by a peacock, and in Biblical terms, by the Whore of Babylon. During the Renaissance, vanity was often represented as a naked woman, sometimes seated or reclining on a couch. She attends to her hair with comb and mirror. The mirror is sometimes held by a demon or a putto. Symbols of vanity include jewels, gold coins, a purse, and the figure of death.[ citation needed ]

Some depictions of vanity include scrolls that read Omnia Vanitas ("All is Vanity”), a quotation from the Latin translation of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes. [6] Although the term vanitas (Latin, "emptiness") originally meant not obsession by one's appearance, but the ultimate fruitlessness of humankind's efforts in this world, the phrase summarizes the complete preoccupation of the subject of the picture.

"The artist invites us to pay lip-service to condemning her," writes Edwin Mullins, "while offering us full permission to drool over her. She admires herself in the glass, while we treat the picture that purports to incriminate her as another kind of glass—a window—through which we peer and secretly desire her." [7] The theme of the recumbent woman often merged artistically with the non-allegorical one of a reclining Venus.

In this 1859 painting Daydreams by Thomas Couture, the vice of vanity is shown through a boy blowing bubbles. The Walters Art Museum. Thomas Couture - Daydreams - Walters 3744.jpg
In this 1859 painting Daydreams by Thomas Couture, the vice of vanity is shown through a boy blowing bubbles. The Walters Art Museum.

In his table of the seven deadly sins, Hieronymus Bosch depicts a bourgeois woman admiring herself in a mirror held up by a devil; behind her is an open jewelry box. A painting attributed to Nicolas Tournier, which hangs in the Ashmolean Museum, is An Allegory of Justice and Vanity: a young woman holds a balance, symbolizing justice; she does not look in a mirror or the skull on the table before her. Johannes Vermeer's painting Girl with a Pearl Earring is sometimes believed to depict the sin of vanity, because the young girl has adorned herself before a glass without further positive allegorical attributes.

All is Vanity, by Charles Allan Gilbert (1873–1929), carries on this theme. An optical illusion, the painting depicts what appears to be a large grinning skull. Upon closer examination, it reveals itself to be a young woman gazing at her reflection in the mirror. In the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate , Satan (Al Pacino) claims that "vanity is his favourite sin".

Such artistic works served to warn viewers of the ephemeral nature of youthful beauty, as well as the brevity of human life and the inevitability of death.

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven deadly sins</span> Set of vices in Christian theology

The seven deadlysins, also known as the capitalvices or cardinal sins, function as a grouping and classification of major vices within the teachings in Christianity and Islam although the source crediting Islam with this concept is not consistent with foundational Islamic doctrine regarding anger and pride,lust or greed. According to the standard list, the seven deadly sins in Christianity are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pride</span> Positive effect from the perceived value of a person

Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". Oxford defines it as "the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's own importance." Pride may be related to one's own abilities or achievements, positive characteristics of friends or family, or one's country. Richard Taylor defined pride as "the justified love of oneself", as opposed to false pride or narcissism. Similarly, St. Augustine defined it as "the love of one's own excellence", and Meher Baba called it "the specific feeling through which egoism manifests."

<i>Vanitas</i> Genre of symbolic art

Vanitas is a genre of art which uses symbolism to show the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, and thus the vanity of ambition and all worldly desires. The paintings involved still life imagery of transitory items. The genre began in the 16th century and continued into the 17th century. Vanitas art is a type of allegorical art representing a higher ideal. It was a sub-genre of painting heavily employed by Dutch painters during the Baroque period (c.1585–1730). Spanish painters working at the end of the Spanish Golden Age also created vanitas paintings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Still life</span> Type of painting

A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural or human-made.

Glory is used to describe the manifestation of God's presence as perceived by humans according to the Abrahamic religions.

Egotism is defined as the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal features and importance distinguished by a person's amplified vision of one's self and self-importance. It often includes intellectual, physical, social, and other overestimations. The egotist has an overwhelming sense of the centrality of the "me" regarding their personal qualities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan van der Heyden</span> Dutch painter (1637–1712)

Jan van der Heyden was a Dutch Baroque-era painter, glass painter, draughtsman and printmaker. Van der Heyden was one of the first Dutch painters to specialize in townscapes and became one of the leading architectural painters of the Dutch Golden Age. He painted a number of still lifes in the beginning and at the end of his career.

<i>Rokeby Venus</i> Painting by Diego Velázquez

The Rokeby Venus is a painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. Completed between 1647 and 1651, and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work depicts the goddess Venus in a sensual pose, lying on a bed with her back facing the viewer, and looking into a mirror held by the Roman god of physical love, her son Cupid. The painting is in the National Gallery, London.

<i>The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things</i> Paintings by Hieronymus Bosch or a follower

The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things is a painting attributed to the Early Netherlandish artist Hieronymus Bosch or to a follower of his, completed around 1500 or later. Since 1898 its authenticity has been questioned several times. In 2015 the Bosch Research Conservation Project claimed it to be by a follower, but scholars at the Prado, where the painting is on display in a sealed case, dismissed this argument. The painting is oil on wooden panels and is presented in a series of circular images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria van Oosterwijck</span> Dutch artist (1630–1693)

Maria van Oosterwijck, also spelled Oosterwyck, (1630–1693) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, specializing in richly detailed flower paintings and other still lifes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolaes van Verendael</span> Flemish painter (1640–1691)

Nicolaes van Verendael or Nicolaes van Veerendael was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp who is mainly known for his flower paintings and vanitas still lifes. He was a frequent collaborator of other Antwerp artists to whose compositions he added the still life elements. He also painted a number of singeries, i.e., scenes with monkeys dressed and acting as humans.

<i>The Love Potion</i> Painting by Evelyn De Morgan

The Love Potion is a 1903 painting by the English artist Evelyn De Morgan depicting a witch with a black cat familiar at her feet. According to Elise Lawton Smith, the painting "exhibits a Pre-Raphaelite fascination with medieval subjects and decorative detailing." The model was Jane Morris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodegón</span> Spanish still-life genre in baroque art

The term bodega in Spanish can mean "pantry", "tavern", or "wine cellar". The derivative term bodegón is an augmentative that refers to a large bodega, usually in a derogatory fashion. In Spanish art, a bodegón is a still life painting depicting pantry items, such as victuals, game, and drink, often arranged on a simple stone slab, and also a painting with one or more figures, but with significant still life elements, typically set in a kitchen or tavern. It also refers to low-life or everyday objects, which can be painted with flowers, fruits, or other objects to display the painter's mastery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Isaacsz. van Swanenburg</span> Dutch painter

Jacob Isaacszoon van Swanenburg was a Dutch painter, draftsman and art dealer. He was known for his city views, history paintings, Christian religious scenes and portraits. He spent a substantial part of his early career in Italy before returning to his native Leiden. He was the teacher of the young Rembrandt.

<i>Woman with a Mirror</i> C. 1515 painting by Titian

Woman with a Mirror is a painting by Titian, dated to c. 1515 and now in the Musée du Louvre, in Paris.

<i>Woman with a Pearl Necklace</i> Painting by Johannes Vermeer from c. 1664

Woman with a Pearl Necklace by Johannes Vermeer is a Dutch Golden Age painting of about 1664. Painted in oils on canvas, Johannes Vermeer portrayed a young Dutch woman, most likely of upper-class descent, dressing herself with two yellow ribbons, pearl earrings, and a pearl necklace. As a very popular artist of the 17th century, the Dutch Golden Age, Vermeer depicted many women in similar circumstances within interior, domestic scenes. The same woman also appears in The Love Letter and A Lady Writing a Letter. The painting is part of the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.

The Paradise of Fools is a literary and historical topic and theme found in many Christian works. A traditional train of thought held that it is the place where fools or idiots were sent after death: intellectually incompetent to be held responsible for their deeds, they cannot be punished for them in hell, atone for them in purgatory, or be rewarded for them in heaven. It is usually to be read allegorically, though what precisely is allegorized differs from author to author, and often its location is in the lunar sphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catarina Ykens (II)</span> Flemish artist (1659–1737)

Catarina or Catharina Ykens or Catarina Ykens (II) (1659 - 1737 or later) was a Flemish painter. The few surviving paintings attributed to her are still lifes but she is also believed to have painted history paintings with biblical themes.

<i>Girl before a Mirror</i> 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso

Girl before a Mirror(French: Jeune fille devant un miroir) is an oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso, which he created in 1932. The painting is a portrait of Picasso's mistress and muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, who is depicted standing in front of a mirror looking at her reflection. It is housed in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

The House of Pride is a notable setting in Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene. The actions of cantos IV and V in Book I take place there, and readers have associated the structure with several allegories pertinent to the poem.

References

  1. Oxford English Dictionary , on vanity
  2. Oxford English Dictionary, on vainglory
  3. Oxford English Dictionary, on glory
  4. "Vain Imaginings". Bahai Quotes.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  5. 1 2 Bartleby.com Archived 2006-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  6. James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art (New York: Harper & Row, 1974), p. 318.
  7. Edwin Mullins, The Painted Witch: How Western Artists Have Viewed the Sexuality of Women (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1985), pp. 62–63.
  8. "Daydreams". The Walters Art Museum.