Allegory of Transience, Cornelis Visscher (II), c. 1654 - c. 1658

Allegory of Transience, Cornelis Visscher (II), c. 1654 - c. 1658

black chalk, on vellum, h 335mm × w 270mm Catalogue entry

Cornelis Visscher drew this young woman with coarse as well as very fine hatching in black chalk. While gazing beyond the picture plane with her sparkling eyes, she points out a sheet with verse to the viewer. Its message, in combination with the skull, the statuette of Time, and the broken glass, could not be clearer: life is finite.

Catalogue entry