The vanitas-motif of the young woman and death was a popular subject in the early modern period, but then disappeared almost completely after the 17th century. It is only in contemporary installations, photographs, and theater pro- ductions that it increasingly reappears on the surface. Based on this observation, the article examines artistic positions by Adel Abdessemed, Marina Abramović, Dennis Adams as well as Antú Romero Nunes and Ludger Engels. In doing so, it examines the differences, shifts, and inversions compared to the historical constellation as it appeared in art and literature since the late Middle Ages and which, in the context of Vanitas, referred to the specific construction of the ›evil beauty‹.