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Humanities and Social Sciences Library > Collections & Reading Rooms > Print Collection   Johann Jakob Haid (German, 1704-1767) A member of a German family of artists and print publishers, best known for
his large mezzotint portraits, Johann Jakob Haid presented a sumptuous allegory
on vanity in these pendant mezzotint still lifes, “Everything Is Vain”
and “Worldly Treasures.” Alles ist eitel reminds the
viewer of the fugitiveness of life; the skull, hourglass, the extinguished
candle (topped by a remarkably realized wisp of smoke), soap bubbles (also,
brilliantly executed), and a sealed letter, reflect the iconography of 17th-century
still-life painting. In Vergängliche Erdschätze Haid compiles
an inventory of opulent “worldly treasures.” By burnishing a roughened
copper plate, Haid suggests the glitter of bejeweled metal ewers and vases.
Haid appears to have been aware of the work of a 17th-century English painter,
printmaker and publisher, Robert Robinson, whose mezzotints of still lifes
and vanitas subjects provided models for some of the accoutrements in Haid’s
prints, seen here in rich, velvety black impressions. Photographic Services & Permissions Back
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