# Vanity > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Vanity > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Vanity.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity > Source revision: 1334360233 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Excessive concern for one's own appearance or importance "Vainglory" redirects here. For other uses, see [Vainglory (disambiguation)](/source/Vainglory_(disambiguation)). For other uses, see [Vanity (disambiguation)](/source/Vanity_(disambiguation)). *[Vanitas](/source/Vanitas)* (Latin for vanity) by [Léon Bazille Perrault](/source/L%C3%A9on_Perrault), 1886 **Vanity** is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness compared to others. Prior to the 14th century, it did not have such [narcissistic](/source/Narcissism) undertones, and merely meant *futility*.[1] The related term **vainglory** is now often seen as an archaic synonym for *vanity*, but originally meant *considering one's own capabilities and that God's help was not needed*, i.e. unjustified [boasting](/source/Boasting);[2] although *glory* is now seen as having a predominantly positive meaning,[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] the [Latin](/source/Latin) term from which it derives, *gloria*, roughly means *boasting*, and was often used as a negative criticism.[3] ## Religion and philosophy In many religions, vanity, in its modern sense, is considered a form of self-[idolatry](/source/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](/source/God). In Christian teachings, *vanity* is an example of [pride](/source/Pride), one of the [seven deadly sins](/source/Seven_deadly_sins).[4] Philosophically, vanity may be a broader form of [egotism](/source/Egotism) and [pride](/source/Pride). [Friedrich Nietzsche](/source/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."[5] One of [Mason Cooley](/source/Mason_Cooley)'s [aphorisms](/source/Aphorism) is "Vanity well fed is benevolent. Vanity hungry is spiteful."[5] ## Symbolism *Nosce Te Ipsum (Allegory of Vanity)*, engraving by Jacob Neefs after a drawing by [Jacob Jordaens](/source/Jacob_Jordaens) In Western art, vanity was often symbolized by a [peacock](/source/Peacock), and in [Biblical](/source/Bible) terms, by the [Whore of Babylon](/source/Whore_of_Babylon). During the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance), vanity was often 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](/source/Demon) or a [putto](/source/Putto). Symbols of vanity include jewels, gold coins, a purse, and the figure of death.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Some depictions of vanity include scrolls that read *Omnia Vanitas* ("All is Vanity”), a quotation from the Latin translation of the Biblical book of [Ecclesiastes](/source/Ecclesiastes).[6] Although the term [vanitas](/source/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](/source/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."[7] The theme of the recumbent woman often merged artistically with the non-allegorical one of a reclining [Venus](/source/Venus_(god)). In this 1859 painting *Daydreams* by [Thomas Couture](/source/Thomas_Couture), the vice of vanity is shown through a boy blowing bubbles.[8] The Walters Art Museum. In his table of the [seven deadly sins](/source/Seven_deadly_sins), [Hieronymus Bosch](/source/Hieronymus_Bosch) depicts a [bourgeois](/source/Bourgeoisie) woman admiring herself in a mirror held up by a devil; behind her is an open jewelry box. A painting attributed to [Nicolas Tournier](/source/Nicolas_Tournier), which hangs in the [Ashmolean Museum](/source/Ashmolean_Museum), is *An Allegory of Justice and Vanity*: a young woman holds a [balance](/source/Weighing_scale#Balance), symbolizing [justice](/source/Justice); she does not look in a mirror or the [skull](/source/Human_skull) on the table before her. [Johannes Vermeer](/source/Johannes_Vermeer)'s painting *[Girl with a Pearl Earring](/source/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.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] *All is Vanity*, by [Charles Allan Gilbert](/source/Charles_Allan_Gilbert) (1873–1929), carries on this theme. An [optical illusion](/source/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 1997 film *[The Devil's Advocate](/source/The_Devil's_Advocate_(1997_film))*, [Satan](/source/Satan) ([Al Pacino](/source/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 Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Vanity](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Vanity)***. Look up ***[vanity](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/vanity)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Vanity](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Vanity). - [Confidence](/source/Confidence) - [Dunning–Kruger effect](/source/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) - [Grandiose delusions](/source/Grandiose_delusions) - [Haughtiness](/source/Haughtiness) - [Icarus complex](/source/Icarus_complex) - [Overconfidence effect](/source/Overconfidence_effect) - [Self-serving bias](/source/Self-serving_bias) - [Bonfire of the Vanities](/source/Bonfire_of_the_Vanities) - [Egotism](/source/Egotism) - [False pleasure](/source/False_pleasure) - [Narcissistic elation](/source/Narcissistic_elation) - [Selfishness](/source/Selfishness) - [Vanity gallery](/source/Vanity_gallery) ## Further reading - [Bossuet, Jacques-Bénigne](/source/Jacques-B%C3%A9nigne_Bossuet) (1900). ["Day 20: Vain-glory in good works."](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Sermon_on_the_Mount_(Bossuet)/Day_20). *The Sermon on the Mount*. Longmans, Green, and Co. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)*, on *vanity* 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *Oxford English Dictionary*, on *vainglory* 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *Oxford English Dictionary*, on *glory* 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Vain Imaginings"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160407093418/https://bahaiquotes.com/quotepage.php?Quotes%2FVain+Imaginings). *Bahai Quotes.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.bahaiquotes.com/quotepage.php?Quotes%2FVain+Imaginings) on 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2023-03-28. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bartleby_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bartleby_5-1) [Bartleby.com](http://www.bartleby.com/66/51/41651.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060301050157/http://www.bartleby.com/66/51/41651.html) 2006-03-01 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** James Hall, *Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art* (New York: Harper & Row, 1974), p. 318. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Edwin Mullins, *The Painted Witch: How Western Artists Have Viewed the Sexuality of Women* (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1985), pp. 62–63. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Daydreams"](http://art.thewalters.org/detail/12349). The Walters Art Museum. Authority control databases International GND National United States France BnF data Latvia Israel Other İslâm Ansiklopedisi Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vanity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.