Dutchmen looking through the first microscopes were discovering the world of animalcules
domestic scenes with the appurtenances of still life
used like "accessories" here
The still life with lobster by Abraham van Beyeren is supposed to be a vanitas painting because of the pocket watch
defined as "about the futility of human cravings, aspirations, and attachments in the face of the transience of all things"
[...] I wish that I could put up yesterday's evening sky for all posterity, could preserve a night of love, the sound of a mountain stream, a realization as it sets my mind afire, a dance, a day of harmony, ten thousand glorious days of clouds that will instead vanish and never be seen again, line …
