Fleeting beauty: Cowper’s ‘Vanity’ confronts viewers with mortality

In this video, we reflect on the 1907 painting ‘Vanity’ by Frank Cadogan Cowper, an English painter and illustrator of portraits, historical and literary scenes.

Described as the last of the Pre-Raphaelites – a group of English painters, poets and art critics who sought to return to the abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art – Cowper worked in both watercolours and oils.

Here, the title of his painting references a genre of painting known as ‘vanitas’, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, whose aim was to remind viewers of their mortality and the fleeting nature of earthly possessions.

In this portrait – the real-life subject of which, remains unknown – Cowper confronts us with the uncomfortable truth that neither the beautiful woman in her elegant clothes, nor the ripe grapes in the background, can flourish forever; in time, both will fade and die.

Read more about the portrait here.

View the original video here.

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