Christian von Thum

Christian von Thum or Christian von Thum (I) (c. 1625 in Kalmar – 12 August 1686 in Stockholm) was a Swedish innkeeper, still life painter, decorative painter, set painter, copyist and art agent. His known works include vanitas still lifes and still lifes with foodstuffs, paintings of hermits and religious paintings. In the 1650s he was commissioned by Countess Maria Sophia De la Gardie, the sister of Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, a Swedish statesman and military man, to work on a number of painting and gilding commissions. He worked in 1663 on a commission for Countess Sigrid Bielke, the wife of Gustav Horn, Count of Pori. These objects are the typical symbols found in so-called vanitas still lifes. This genre of still life aims to evoke the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits through the use of stock symbols, which reference the transience of things, the brevity of life and, in particular, the futility of earthly wealth and glory. skulls, soap bubbles, candles, smoking utensils, empty glasses, wilting flowers, insects, smoke, watches, hourglasses mirrors, books and musical instruments, and various expensive or exclusive objects such as jewellery, silverware and rare shells. The term vanitas is derived from the famous line 'Vanitas, Vanitas. Et omnia Vanitas', in the book of the Ecclesiastes in the bible, which in the King James Version is translated as . The worldview behind the vanitas paintings was a Christian understanding of the world as a temporary place of fleeting pleasures and sorrows from which mankind can only escape through the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. In his Vanitas Still Life with Astronomical Instruments the astronomical measuring instruments and celestial globe can be interpreted as a reminder of the fragility of life despite new discoveries and knowledge. Another interpretation could be that science endures while life perishes.