Roundel with Vanitas
Unknown Artist
1510–20
Medium
Colorless glass, vitreous paint and silver stain
Dimensions
Overall: 8 3/4 in. (22.3 cm)
Classification
Glass-Stained
Culture
North Netherlandish
Department
The Cloisters
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Cloisters Collection, 1977
Accession Number
1977.89
Tags
About this artwork
This circular stained glass roundel exemplifies the Northern European fascination with vanitas imagery during the early 16th century. Created between 1510 and 1520 in the North Netherlands, this work employs colorless glass enhanced with vitreous paint and silver stain to create a meditation on mortality and the transience of earthly life. The vanitas theme—from the Latin "vanity" or "emptiness"—became increasingly popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, reminding viewers that worldl...