What is "vanitas"

n. (context painting English) A type of still life painting, symbolic of mortality, characteristic of Dutch painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Vanitas is a category of symbolic works of art, especially those associated with the still life paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries in Flanders and the Netherlands. The Latin noun ''vānĭtas," (ātis, f. vanus) means "emptiness", from the Latin adjective "vanus," meaning empty, and thus refers in this context to the traditional Christian view of earthly life and the worthless nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. In Christian philosophy, the word vanitas derives its prominence from the Ecclesiastes, and in the Vulgate the verse is rendered as "Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas". In the King James Version, however, it is translated "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity", and therefore the English word "vanity" is used in its older (especially pre-14th century) sense of "futility".

Vanitas is the second full-length studio album by the Italian Gothic metal band Macbeth.

Vanitas is the seventh full-length studio album by British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh. It was released on October 23, 2012, on Candlelight Records. The album was released in North America on November 6, 2012.

Vanitas, is a type of symbolic work of art.

Vanitas may also refer to:

• Vanity (Latin: Vanitas), one of the Seven Deadly Sins in Christian theology