On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01403
- Author
- Brueghel “the Elder”, Jan (Flemish)
- Title
- Sight and Smell
- Chronology
- Ca. 1620
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 176 cm x 264 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- No
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
Two allegorical figures allude to
the two senses presented here.
Smell does so to some flowers he
receives from a cupid while Sight
looks at his reflection in a mirror
held by another cupid. Everything
painted around these figures
alludes to those two senses. The
civet cat represents unpleasant
odors while the dog represents a
fine sense of smell. The magnifying
glass symbolizes physical sight
while spiritual vision is
represented by paintings such as
The Healing of the Blind.
Brueghel displays his capacity to
depict objects and to faithfully
render original textures. He also
uses this occasion to present a
complete gallery of paintings, a
customary subject among Flemish
painters.
Northern painters often
collaborated on a single work, and
this is singularly true here, where
Brueghel was accompanied by Gerard
Seghers, Frans Fracken, “the
younger” and Joost de Momper, who
painted many of the elements making
up this composition.
This piece is paired with the
allegory of Hearing, Taste and
Touch (P1404). Both arrived in
Madrid in 1623 for the decoration
of the Torre de la Reina at the
Alcázar Palace.
