The Five Senses
Artist/Culture
Jacob Matham
(Dutch, 1571–1631)
Artist
Hendrick Goltzius
(Dutch, 1558–1617)
Dateabout 1588
Mediumengraving on thin, slightly textured cream laid paper
Dimensions30.3 x 21.5 cm (11 15/16 x 8 7/16 in.)
Overall1: 30 x 21.1 cm (11 13/16 x 8 5/16 in.)
Overall1: 30 x 21.1 cm (11 13/16 x 8 5/16 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineEliza S. Paine Fund
Object number1992.12
DescriptionPlate No. 2 from a "Set of Eight Mythological and Allegorical Subjects."Label TextGoltzius conceived the senses as five busy sisters, identical but for their experiences and their fanciful coiffures. Logically perhaps, sight has a prominent place, as she admires herself in a mirror. In the shadowy background, touch endures the only unpleasant experience in the strong of a snakebite. The intentionally distorted figures twist a stable compositional foundation into a writhing diagonal knot, pulled right and up into the distance. This image also reveals Goltzius’s experiments with the doughy manner of representing drapery characteristic of Spranger’s work.ProvenancePia Gallo, P.O. Box 11678, Chicago, IL 60611
On View
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