Allegory of Transience, so-called Vanitas Group
ca. 1470/80 | Michel Erhart
The three figures, carved from a single piece of wood, represent the beauty of youth and its transience. The degeneration of the body in old age is drastically emphasized through the realism of the masterful polychromy. It is unclear whether the group originally belonged in a larger context, e.g. a clock case, or was already planned as a small antonymous sculpture.
The three figures, carved from a single piece of wood, represent the beauty of youth and its transience. The degeneration of the body in old age is drastically emphasized through the realism of the masterful polychromy. It is unclear whether the group originally belonged in a larger context, e.g. a clock case, or was already planned as a small antonymous sculpture.
Artist:
Michel Erhart , ODER: (um 1440/45 - nach 1522) DNB
Time:
ca. 1470/80
Object Name
Sculpture; Statuette
Culture
Ulm
Material/technology:
Painted limewood
Dimensions:
46,5 cm × 19 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Kunstkammer
Invs.
Kunstkammer, 1