Christian von Thum

[2] In 1664, he was hired by the Dowager Queen Hedvig Eleonora to create a scene decorated with flowers made of paper, wax, gold leaf and larch for a production of the ballet The Four Seasons at the castle.

[3] He travelled around 1668 to the Spanish Netherlands where he bought works of art for Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie and the Dowager Queen Hedvig Eleonora, amongst others.

In 1683-1684 he collaborated with Johan Hafwersatt on the decorative elements at the Maria Magdalena Church in Stockholm which was at the time being rebuilt.

skulls, soap bubbles, candles, smoking utensils, empty glasses, wilting flowers, insects, smoke, watches, hourglasses mirrors, books and musical instruments, and various expensive or exclusive objects such as jewellery, silverware and rare shells.

[5][6] The worldview behind the vanitas paintings was a Christian understanding of the world as a temporary place of fleeting pleasures and sorrows from which mankind can only escape through the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ.