Charles Allan Gilbert's All is Vanity

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Charles Allan Gilbert painted this illustration in 1892, when he was just 18. It shows a beautiful woman sitting at a dressing table and gazing into a mirror. The artist has masterfully created an optical illusion from the composition of the lights and shadows in the scene, giving the impression that the "real" image is that of a grinning human skull. That this was a common theme in Victorian America goes without saying, but the not-so-subtle misogyny inherent in the choice of a female subject is also apparent. So that the message he meant to convey couldn't possibly be missed, he named the image with the words, "All is Vanity."

© Alison Ulman 2001