The Sense of Sight (from the series “The Five Senses”). Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens

This painting shows the sense of sight.

Sight is one of the 5 senses that people have.

It is part of a series representing all the senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

The painters wanted to depict the sense of sight with a room full of works of art.

In the room, there are many things to observe, such as paintings, jewellery, and sculptures that were part of the art collections of nobles and kings.

Some of the pictures that you can see in this painting really exist and are in different museums.

Some other pictures no longer exist because they have been lost. You can also see things used for observing, such as telescopes, glasses, and lamps.

At the centre of the painting are 2 figures. Venus is the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and her son Cupid is the god of desire.

Cupid shows Venus a painting entitled The Healing of the Blind.

This painting depicts the miracle of Jesus Christ healing a blind person.

In the background of the painting, you see a palace and its gardens through an arched window.

This palace is the Palace of Coudenberg, where the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia and Archduke Albert lived. They were the governors of Flanders.

Archduchess and Archduke are portrayed in the painting on the left side of the window.

Two artists created this painting:

Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens.

Rubens specialised in painting figures and human bodies, and Brueghel painted objects and animals.

In this painting, Brueghel painted the room with all the objects.

When Brueghel finished his part, Rubens painted Venus and Cupid.

We do not know if the Archduke and Archduchess depicted in the painting commissioned these paintings or if they received them as gifts.

After the Archduke and Archduchess died, the paintings had several owners until they became part of the collection of the Spanish King Philip the Fourth.