Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette is an early work by Vincent van Gogh. The small and undated oil-on-canvas painting featuring a skeleton and cigarette is part of the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.[1] It was most likely painted in the winter of 1885–86 as a satirical comment on conservative academic practices. The work measures 32 by 24.5 centimeters (12.6 in × 9.6 in). It is considered a vanitas or memento mori, at a time when van Gogh himself was in poor health. Although often interpreted as a criticism of smoking, Van Gogh was a keen smoker himself, and continued to smoke until his death in 1890.[2]