Self-consciousness In 17^th Century Dutch Still Life

Reality begins with thinking,as philosophers have thought since ancient times.Artists certainly know this when they create metaphysical imagery,projecting reality onto the canvas and allowing the viewer to create it in his own mind.In the 17 th century,the Dutch still life painters would lay out realistic images in their paintings,and the painters also understood reality in their self-consciousness.We will find in the Dutch still life two opposite phenomena of self-consciousness.Cartesian dualism says mind and body are separate,and I think still life is an extension of the body.Still life evoke people's self-consciousness,including the painter himself,through symbolism.In still life,objects exist in opposition to people(selves).The objects in the Dutch still life painting are not the object in the real world,but the object in the painter's self-understanding.The still life painting by the painter with superb skills fooled people's eyes and made them believe that it was real.In this way,the still life painting are the result of self-consciousness.In the Dutch still life,the skull symbolizes death,and the skull symbolizes death,and the bubbles symbolize human frailty and impermanence,advising people to live in the present moment and serve as a wake-up call to themselves.These still life paintings enable the viewer to create the theme of emptiness in the sense of self,that is,nothingness,not to forget death,to live in the present moment.