A globe of contemplation.
Vanitas paintings flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. With a central theme of ‘Memento Mori’ each contained collections of symbolic  objects.

Symbols representing the arts and sciences, exoticism, wealth and power, hope, earthly pleasures, the temporal nature of beauty, self-reflection, prosperity, human curiosity, knowledge, self awareness, the transience and limitation of time, fragility and human vulnerability and the passing of time.