I was reading about symbols for ‘time’ in art tonight and came across this passage in https://www.artmajeur.com/en/magazine/5-art-history/the-representation-of-time-passing-in-art/330158
“At the very beginning of the 17th century, paintings of a new genre appeared, the Vanities . This name takes its root from the term “vain”, which refers to what is empty, illusory. These are paintings classified in the genre of still lifes, and contain a set of emblems and objects whose possession seems futile, derisory as in the work shown above by Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674), Vanité . Among the most common character-defining elements are the skull, the extinguished candle, or the silence of musical instruments as symbols of death. The hourglass or the clock, as symbols of the passage of time, but also soap bubbles symbolizing both the fleetingness of life and earthly goods. A faded flower , like a tulip or a rose, reflecting the image of life that will end sooner or later.”
I often take photos of foam bubbles on the beach,and I suppose I’ve just thought of them in terms of abstract patterns produced by the waves, but this another way of regarding such transient entities. Interesting.
