Vanitas portrait of the painter, Antoine Steenwinkel
The Danish inscription Steenwinkel og hustru ('Steenwinkel and his wife') - The mirror, which shows a man with a broad-brimmed hat, is not held by a woman, but by a young man. In front of the mirror are various vanitas symbols: an hourglass, books, and a skull. A mysterious open drawer occupies the foreground. Antoine Steenwinkel creates a curious optical illusion here, the meaning of which is open to different interpretations.
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