>[!abstract] >**Vanitas** (Latin for "vanity") is an art genre that began during the Baroque period in the late 16th century and which depicts the transient nature of life. It takes its name from *Ecclesiastes 1:2* in the Vulgate edition of the Bible: *Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas* (Latin for "vanity of vanities, all is vanity"). It often represents skulls as a form of [[memento mori]]. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): — >- **West** (similar): [[Memento mori]] >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): —