A vanitas still life with a wreathed skull, a Pochette violin and a bow, a deck of cards, a musical score, a pair of dice, a box inscribed poudre de civet, two roses, an hourglass and a snuffed-out candle in a niche

Trained by the court portrait painter, Louis Beaubrun, Renard de Saint-André was consequently considered mainly as a portraitist, yet his main talent was clearly for painting still lifes. In this he was influenced by his successful contemporaries from the Saint Germain des Prés school of painting, Jacques Linard and Sebastien Stoskopff. Other Vanitas still lives by the artist are in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseilles and the Musée Tavet, Pontoise.