Axial Commons Image Treasury
Engraving of a woman in a flowered headdress beside a curly-haired companion, with a winged helmet crest and a skull on a shield in the foreground.

Coat of Arms of Vanitas

A standing woman in a flowered headdress and long gown stands beside a curly-haired companion, while a winged crest with acanthus scrolls rises above a helmet. In the foreground, a human skull rests on a shield, and a small tablet lies on the ledge at right.

Artist
Albrecht Dürer
Date
1503
Medium
Engraving on cream laid paper
Source
Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)
Size
2210 × 3000 px
Download full size
Public domain · Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum) releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1503).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Smithsonian Institution, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Español: Escudo de armas de la vanitas, grabado de Alberto Durero, 1503

Una mujer de pie, con tocado de flores y vestido largo, está junto a un acompañante de cabello rizado, mientras una cresta alada con volutas de acanto se eleva sobre un yelmo. En primer plano, un cráneo humano descansa sobre un escudo, y una pequeña tablilla yace en el borde derecho.

Português: Brasão da vanitas, gravura de Albrecht Dürer, 1503

Uma mulher em pé, com adorno de flores e vestido longo, está ao lado de um acompanhante de cabelo cacheado, enquanto uma crista alada com volutas de acanto se ergue sobre um elmo. Em primeiro plano, um crânio humano repousa sobre um escudo, e uma pequena tabuleta fica na borda direita.

Vanitas and Memento Morialbrecht durervanitasengravingcoat of armsskullwinged helmet1503renaissancegerman printmakingmemento moriblack and whiteacanthus scrolls

More from Vanitas and Memento Mori

Coloured aquatint of a skeleton with a torch leading fashionably dressed people through a vaulted crypt lined with skulls.The dance of death: the vision of skulls. Coloured aquatint after T. Rowlandson, 1816.Engraving of a skeleton dressed as a fashionable woman with a feathered hat and long gown, holding a sprig, with angels above and a town below.A skeleton as a fashionably dressed woman. Engraving attributed to Gerhard Altzenbach, 16-Painting of the crucifixion: Christ on a cross between the Virgin in pink and violet at left and Saint John in red and green at right, with a skull below.The Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint JohnPainted bust portrait of an old bearded man in a dark skullcap, head turned left, looking down against a dim gray background.Head of an Old Man in a CapPainting of a melancholic woman leaning on a desk beside a skull, with a globe, armillary sphere, and dog's head nearby in a dim room.MelancholiaPainting of a sleeping woman in red with a skull in her lap, an old woman holding a gold dish of jewels at left, and a winged angel at right.The Temptation of the Magdalene