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Vanitas is an artistic genre that gained popularity among 17th-century Dutch painters. Evolving from memento mori art, vanitas paintings depict still life objects that point towards the tumultuous religious, political, economic, and intellectual climate following the Protestant Reformation, as well as the transience of life.

This project serves three main goals. The foundation of the collective seeks to present an interactive database of vanitas paintings from across Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By tracing prominent themes and symbolic items within these paintings, this project explores the close connection between religion, technology, and mortality in Early Modern Europe.

While the primary focus of this collection revolves around 17^th-century Dutch works, it also highlights the predecessors and inspirations behind the genre, as well as the continuity throughout history as memento mori art has continued to evolve into the modern day.

Lastly, this project showcases a small sample of scientific instruments that appear in vanitas paintings in order to further explore the role of technology—specifically timekeeping—in Early Modern religious, economic, and intellectual life.