Vanity - Wikipedia Vanity From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Excessive concern for one's own appearance, or importance "Vainglory" redirects here. For the Old English poem, see Vainglory (Old English poem). For the video game, see Vainglory (video game). For the style of artwork, see Vanitas. For other uses, see Vanity (disambiguation). This painting represents the Dutch "Vanitas" (Latin for vanity) by Adam Bernaert,[1] The Walters Art Museum. Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant futility.[2] The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic synonym for vanity, but originally meant boasting in vain, i.e. unjustified boasting;[3] although glory is now seen as having a predominantly positive meaning,[citation needed] the Latin term from which it derives, gloria, roughly means boasting, and was often used as a negative criticism.[4] Contents 1 In religion and philosophy 2 Symbolism 3 See also 4 References In religion and philosophy[edit] In this painting Daydreams by Thomas Couture, the vice of vanity is shown through a boy blowing bubbles.[5] The Walters Art Museum. In many religions, vanity, in its modern sense, is considered a form of self-idolatry in which one likens oneself to the greatness of God for the sake of one's own image, and thereby becomes separated and perhaps in time divorced from the Divine grace of God. In Christian teachings, vanity is an example of pride, one of the seven deadly sins. Also, in the Baháʼí Faith, Baha'u'llah uses the term 'vain imaginings'.[6] Philosophically, vanity may be a broader form of egotism and pride. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that "vanity is the fear of appearing original: it is thus a lack of pride, but not necessarily a lack of originality."[7] One of Mason Cooley's aphorisms is "Vanity well fed is benevolent. Vanity hungry is spiteful."[7] Symbolism[edit] In Western art, vanity was often symbolized by a peacock, and in Biblical terms, by the Whore of Babylon. During the Renaissance, vanity was invariably represented as a naked woman, sometimes seated or reclining on a couch. She attends to her hair with comb and mirror. The mirror is sometimes held by a demon or a putto. Symbols of vanity include jewels, gold coins, a purse, and the figure of death.[citation needed] Some depictions of vanity include scrolls that read Omnia Vanitas ("All is Vanity"), a quotation from the Latin translation of the Book of Ecclesiastes.[8] Although the term vanitas (Latin, "emptiness") originally meant not obsession by one's appearance, but the ultimate fruitlessness of humankind's efforts in this world, the phrase summarizes the complete preoccupation of the subject of the picture. "The artist invites us to pay lip-service to condemning her," writes Edwin Mullins, "while offering us full permission to drool over her. She admires herself in the glass, while we treat the picture that purports to incriminate her as another kind of glass—a window—through which we peer and secretly desire her."[9] The theme of the recumbent woman often merged artistically with the non-allegorical one of a reclining Venus. In his table of the Seven deadly sins, Hieronymus Bosch depicts a bourgeois woman admiring herself in a mirror held up by a devil; behind her is an open jewelry box. A painting attributed to Nicolas Tournier, which hangs in the Ashmolean Museum, is An Allegory of Justice and Vanity: a young woman holds a balance, symbolizing justice; she does not look at the mirror or the skull on the table before her. Johannes Vermeer's painting Girl with a Pearl Earring is sometimes believed to depict the sin of vanity, because the young girl has adorned herself before a glass without further positive allegorical attributes. All is Vanity, by Charles Allan Gilbert (1873–1929), carries on this theme. An optical illusion, the painting depicts what appears to be a large grinning skull. Upon closer examination, it reveals itself to be a young woman gazing at her reflection in the mirror. In the film The Devil's Advocate, Satan (Al Pacino) claims that "vanity is his favourite sin". Such artistic works served to warn viewers of the ephemeral nature of youthful beauty, as well as the brevity of human life and the inevitability of death. See also[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Vanity Look up vanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vanity. Bonfire of the Vanities Egotism Erotic capital False pleasure Hubris Narcissism Narcissistic elation Selfishness Vanitas Vanity Fair (disambiguation) Vanity gallery References[edit] ^ "Vanitas" Still Life". The Walters Art Museum. ^ Oxford English dictionary, on vanity ^ Oxford English dictionary, on vainglory ^ Oxford English dictionary, on glory ^ "Daydreams". The Walters Art Museum. ^ Bahai Quotes.com http://www.bahaiquotes.com/quotepage.php?Quotes%2FVain+Imaginings. Retrieved 6 November 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help) ^ a b Bartleby.com Archived 2006-03-01 at the Wayback Machine ^ James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art (New York: Harper & Row, 1974), p. 318. ^ Edwin Mullins, The Painted Witch: How Western Artists Have Viewed the Sexuality of Women (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1985), pp. 62–63. v t e Narcissism Types Collective Egomania Flying monkeys Healthy Malignant Narcissistic personality disorder Spiritual Workplace Characteristics Betrayal Boasting Egocentrism Egotism Empathy (lack of) Envy Entitlement (exaggerated sense of) Fantasy Grandiosity Hubris Magical thinking Manipulative Narcissistic abuse Narcissistic elation Narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury Narcissistic mortification Narcissistic supply Narcissistic withdrawal Perfectionism Self-esteem Self-righteousness Shamelessness Superficial charm Superiority complex True self and false self Vanity Defences Denial Idealization and devaluation Distortion Projection Splitting Cultural phenomena Control freak Don Juanism Dorian Gray syndrome My way or the highway Selfie Related articles Codependency Counterdependency Dark triad Ego ideal "Egomania" (film) Egotheism Empire-building God complex History of narcissism Messiah complex Micromanagement Narcissism of small differences Narcissistic leadership Narcissistic parent Narcissistic Personality Inventory Narcissus (mythology) On Narcissism Sam Vaknin Self-love Self-serving bias Spoiled child The Culture of Narcissism Workplace bullying v t e Nudity Naturism Christian naturism Freikörperkultur Gay naturism Gymnosophy Naturist magazines Naturist resort Anarchist naturism Nude recreation Nude beach Nude swimming Streaking Naked yoga Public bathing Sauna Massage Naked party Nude wedding Nude beaches Clothing-optional events Depictions of nudity Nude (art) Body painting Naked News Nude modeling (art) Nudity in film Nude photography Nude photography (art) Glamour photography Nudity in American television Nudity in music videos Nudity in advertising Nude calendar Nudity and sexuality Intimate part Exhibitionism Voyeurism Anasyrma Candaulism Mooning Striptease Stripper feminist stripper Softcore pornography Erotic photography Sexual objectification Clothed female, naked male Clothed male, naked female Issues in social nudity Indecent exposure Obscenity Toplessness Topfreedom Wardrobe malfunction Nudity and protest Sex segregation Breastfeeding in public Dress code Clothing laws by country Modesty Nudity in religion Awrah Strip search Undress code Barefoot By location Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Social nudity advocates Kurt Barthel Lee Baxandall Paul Bindrim Ilsley Boone Henry S. Huntington Heinrich Pudor Elton Raymond Shaw Richard Ungewitter See also History of nudity Timeline of non-sexual social nudity Nudity in combat Nudity clause Imagery of nude celebrities Social nudity organizations Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vanity&oldid=981872270" Categories: Narcissism Seven deadly sins Symbolism Hidden categories: Pages with citations lacking titles Pages with citations having bare URLs Webarchive template wayback links Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017 Articles with unsourced statements from September 2011 Commons category link from Wikidata Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Languages العربية Avañe'ẽ Български Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Galego Հայերեն Ido Italiano Kiswahili Latviešu Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português Română Русский Српски / srpski Svenska ᏣᎳᎩ Українська اردو 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 4 October 2020, at 22:30 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement