Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette ☷ Van Gogh ☲ Canvas Size:12 x 16 with the French Riviera and

with the French Riviera and sailboats visible in the background

portraying it as a guardian

as described in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark

1 (1871) by James McNeill Whistler

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette ☷ Van Gogh ☲ Canvas Size:12 x 16 with the French Riviera andSkull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette (1886) by Vincent van Gogh is self descriptive. He depicted skeletons and skulls only a few times in his career. It is considered a memento mori, a reminder of death, at a time when he himself was in poor health. One might interpret it as a criticism of smoking, but van Gogh was an avid smoker until his death in 1890.