cavetocanvas:
Thomas Couture, Soap Bubbles, c. 1859
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
Couture triumphed at the Salon of 1847 with his “Romans of the Decadence” (Musée d’Orsay, Paris), a monumental canvas whose depiction of a Roman orgy was interpreted as a satire of the corrupt regime of the July Monarchy (1830–48). With “Soap Bubbles,” he reused a traditional vanitas image: the bubbles symbolize the transience of life, while the wilting laurel wreath on the wall suggests the fleeting nature of praise and honors. The word “immortalité,” inscribed on the paper inserted in the framed mirror, reinforces the painting’s allegorical content.
