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Boy Blowing Soap Bubbles. Allegory on the Transitoriness and the Brevity of Life

Karel Dujardin1663

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst
Copenhagen, Danmark

The boy has just lowered his pipe and looks with satisfaction at the bubbles he has sent flying. One hand holds the soap dish, a scallop shell which still holds a few trembling bubbles. The boy is balanced on a giant soap bubble, surfing the waves on an equally giant shell. This vessel constitutes a surreal element within what is otherwise a realistic depiction, proclaiming the motif to be an allegory. The motif is a "memento mori", a reminder of the transience of happiness and the brevity of human life. The work combines two well-known tropes from the 17th century: Fortuna, the goddess of good fortune, rolling on the waves on a ball, and the "Homo Bulla (est)" ("Man is a bubble") concept, which is often portrayed as a child blowing soap bubbles.

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  • Title: Boy Blowing Soap Bubbles. Allegory on the Transitoriness and the Brevity of Life
  • Creator: Karel Dujardin
  • Creator Lifespan: 27-09-1626 Amsterdam - 20-11-1678 Venezia
  • Creator Nationality: Dutch
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Birth Place: Amsterdam
  • Creator Death Place: Venezia
  • Date Created: 1663
  • Værktekst: Drengen har lige sænket sit pusterør og ser tilfreds efter de sæbebobler, som han har sendt op i luften. I den anden hånd holder han sæbeskålen, en muslingeskal fra en kammusling, hvor endnu et par bobler dirrer. Drengen balancerer på en kæmpe sæbeboble og surfer hen over bølgerne på en lige så gigantisk kammuslingeskal. Fartøjet er som et surrealistisk indslag i den ellers meget virkeligheds-tro skildring og røber motivet som en allegori, altså en billedlig oversættelse af et abstrakt begreb. Motivet er et memento mori (latin for "husk, du skal dø"), en allegori over lykkens omskiftelighed og menneskelivets korthed. Værket kobler to velkendte 1600-tals billedtyper, lykkens gudinde Fortuna, der ruller hen over bølgerne på en kugle, og Homo Bulla (est) "Mennesket er (kun) en boble", som viser et barn, der blæser sæbebobler.
  • Teknik: Olie på lærred
  • Proveniens: Erhvervet 1809
  • Dansk link: http://www.smk.dk/index.php?id=2597
  • Dansk Titel: Dreng, der blæser sæbebobler. Allegori på forgængeligheden
  • Physical Dimensions: w96.5 x h116 cm (Without frame)
  • Provenance: Acquired 1809
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Statens Museum for Kunst, http://www.smk.dk/en/copyright/creative-commons/
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

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