Simon Renard De Saint-andré (1614-1677 ) Vanity With Precious Objects Oil On Canvas 17th Century

Simon RENARD dit de SAINT-ANDRÉ ( Paris 1614-1677 )

Vanity in composition with goldsmith's objects, shells, medallions and a jewelled cassette, all set on an entablature where a skull reveals a Latin sentence alongside an eagle-helmet, a vase of flowers, a candlestick and a pocket watch. All in a rich laurel frame.
Oil on canvas.

Dimensions: 50x63 cm unframed.

Price: €36,000


History:

A Parisian painter trained and evolving in the Beaubrun environment, our portraitist artist nevertheless remained famous for these vanités. He was raised in a family of artists; his father was a master goldsmith, his brother François Renard (1607-before 1652) also a painter, and his sister was the wife of a musician ordinary to Monsieur, the king's brother. His cloisonné brushwork, skilful play of shadows and rich, elaborate compositions reflect the influence of vanity painters such as the Flemish Cornelis Norbertus Gysbrechts and the Dutch Edwaert Collier. It is precisely the latter that comes to mind when we examine the crown and scepter on our canvas. While the skull and shells are extremely recurrent elements in the works of Renard de Saint-André, it is these symbols of power that lend great originality to our painting. But let's make no mistake: the cassette full of jewels, the medallions and the silver eaguiere are no means of escaping one's fate, and the maxim beneath the memento mori "Vanitas Vanitatum et omnia vanitas..." ("Vanity of vanities and all vanities...") is no exception. (Vanity of vanities and all is vanity) The painter warns us of the futility of temporal and earthly powers, and invites us to meditate on life after death by painting a crown next to the skull, symbolizing purity, innocence and generosity. The nautilus with red coral can be found in another of the artist's works in the Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon. The candlestick with central wick has just been extinguished ,the end of the wick is still red and the smoke is dispersing this announcing that all earthly things are ephemeral.

Our perfectly ordered composition offering itself to us in a magnificent state of preservation allows us to conclude that along with Jacques Linard and Sébastien Stoskopff, Simon Renard de Saint-André is one of the most fascinating painters of the silent life of the Grand Siècle.

Related work:

• Simon Renard de Saint-André, Vanitas, oil on canvas , musée des beaux-arts de Marseille.

• Simon Renard de Saint-André, vanités, oil on canvas,'musée des beaux-arts de Lyon.
  

Bibliography:

• Alain Tapie- Vanité. Mort que me veux-tu? Catalog Exposition fondation Pierre berger Page ?

• M. Faré, le grand siècle de la nature morte en France, Paris, page 168.