About the Work
The skull and pistol give this still life by Peter Willebeeck a meaning that can be understood instantly, even by the modern-day viewer. They make it possible to identify a similar meaning in several other objects, for instance the clock that can show the passing of time but cannot hold it back, or the sound of the lute that ineluctably fades away. More subtly – though with equal clarity in the context of the objects already mentioned – the notion of transience is also conveyed by the fragile glass, the overturned goblet and the wilting flower.