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Susenier, Abraham
Vanitas Still Life with a Portrait of Rembrandt, a Sculpture, a Skull, Feathers, an Overturned Roemer and a Portfolio of Drawings
around 1669-72

Active in Leiden, The Hague, and Dordrecht, Abraham Susenier specialized in still life. In this glimpse of an artist’s studio, drawings spilling from a well-thumbed portfolio allude to works by Rembrandt (a self-portrait now at Buckland Abbey) and by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens (a Diana and her Nymphs in Paris). Is it a coincidence that both Rembrandt and the skull are sporting feathers? These plumes allude to both pride and the futility of earthly endeavors.

 
Susenier, Abraham
Leiden, Netherlands around 1620–Dordrecht, Netherlands 1668
Vanitas Still Life with a Portrait of Rembrandt, a Sculpture, a Skull, Feathers, an Overturned Roemer and a Portfolio of Drawings
around 1669-72
Oil on canvas
overall: 60.3 cm x 74.3 cm
Gift of Alfred and Isabel Bader, 2014
57-001.32

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