UNKNOWN MASTER, Dutch
(active in the 1620s in Leiden)

Still-Life with Books

c. 1628
Oil on wood, 61 x 97 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

In the university city of Leiden a special variety of the still-life occurs: the still-lifes with books representing the infinite quantity of knowledge included in the books. The piles of old, well-used books signal the vanity of the scholarly life.