All is Vanity

All is Vanity is a classic ambiguous composite drawing created by American illustrator Charles Allan Gilbert in 1892. It depicts a young woman sitting at a vanity mirror, looking at her reflection. However, when viewed from a distance, the entire scene blends to form the shape of a human skull. The round vanity mirror forms the dome of the skull, the woman's head and its reflection form the dark eye sockets, and the perfume bottles and cosmetics on the table form the row of teeth along the jaw. This illusion demonstrates how the visual system groups high-frequency detail (the woman and cosmetics) and low-frequency structures (the skull) differently based on viewing distance and focus.