Klok als vanitassymbool 1770

"Klok als vanitassymbool" (Clock as a Vanity Symbol) is a 1770 etching by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726-1801) and is held in the Rijksmuseum. The print depicts a clock with an urn at the top, a symbol of mortality. The inscription on the clock face reads "Sic vita fluit, donec stare desis" (Thus life flows, until you cease to stand). The detail of the clock, the Latin inscription, and the image of the urn, all serve as reminders of the fleeting nature of time and the inevitability of death, making it a powerful vanitas symbol.