Anatomical study of a human skull with multiple osteomas in a seventeenth-century Dutch still-life painting: bone morphology and artistic intention

Abstract

Skulls were frequently depicted in seventeenth-century Dutch still-life paintings. Skulls were interpreted as symbols of vanitas—meaning the evanescence of life—but their morphological features have received little attention. This study analyzed a skull with abnormal tumors in a seventeenth-century Dutch still-life painting by a renowned artist, Edwaert Collier (ca. 1642–1708), from anatomical, forensic, and pathological perspectives. The morphology of the cranium and teeth indicated that the skull likely belonged to a middle-aged female. We carefully diagnosed the abnormal masses as multiple osteomas on the skull and left femur, based on clinical studies and paleopathological literature, which reported lesions with a similar appearance to those observed in Collier’s work. Furthermore, detailed observations of the cranial sutures and epiphyses of the long bones in his paintings revealed that the artist may have selected bones with a morphology that was suitable for the subject of vanitas. Collier repeatedly depicted the skull with metopism, the rare condition of having a persistent metopic suture in adulthood. A skull with a metopic suture is called Kreuzschädel, meaning the cross skull, because it forms a cruciform by connecting with the sagittal and coronal sutures. The artist might have chosen skulls with metopic sutures, which is reminiscent of the crucifixion of Christ, as an appropriate motif for the vanitas painting. This paper argues that anatomical analysis could explain the hidden meaning of the painting and disclose the fascinating collaborations between anatomy and art in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic.