Rachel Ruysch used a simile to represent life and death in her painting called fruits and insects, putting juicy fruits and its maximum splendor normally invites to consume . Fruits and eggs represent life and birth in contrast to the danger of death when is close. For example the butterfly trying to stands on the table at the same time it senses the death that in this case is represented by a salamander, that is attentive to devour the butterfly.It should emphasize her great capacity of observation for details in her painting.
The Jan Van Huysum still life painting vase with flowers use flowers with a lot of detail. He also uses eggs in a nest and a little boy naked running in the background to represent birth . Using contrary colors he brings harmony to his still life painting.
Hector Rene’s pictures are inspired by Vanitas. He belonged to the United States Armed Forces and had the opportunity to see the two realities at once life and death. Some of the photos have a Christian connotation as when the soldier holds the child with one hand and in the other holds flowers that seems carnations, this photo is very similar to a Christian painting with child Jesus. In another picture Rene makes a simile of death of jesus .but in this case the one who is holding the death person is a soldier.
A simile is a figure of speech in which you compare two things using a connecting word such as “like”. the sound of her laugh was like a bell. A metaphor is when one thing is used to symbolize another. In the case of Szarkowski, a mirror is a metaphor for a photograph that reflects the photographer. The photographer is not literally in the photograph but it shows his state of mind.
In the photos of Hector Rene Membreno-Canales while there certainly are Christian themes, I would say those themes come through his interest in art history rather than his interest in Christianity.