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An Allegory of the Senses

Image credit: Glasgow Life Museums

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Notes

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The senses are represented in this painting by the five main figures, each of whom holds or does something associated with a particular sense. But while the senses are short-lived, true love, symbolized by the statue of Cupid, is eternal. Such a grand and moralizing painting was probably commissioned by someone both learned and wealthy, presumably a member of the van Rijn family whose children are believed to be the models in the painting.

In 1730, Elizabeth van Rijn married Jacques-Philippe d'Orville, a celebrated Amsterdam professor, from whose descendant this painting was purchased in 2001. Lairesse was one of the greatest and most celebrated artists of his day, and a leading exponent of French-style Classicism.
Title

An Allegory of the Senses

Date

1668

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 137.2 x W 182.9 cm

Accession number

3635

Acquisition method

purchased with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the Trustees of the Hamilton Bequest, 2001

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

signed/dated

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Normally on display at

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Argyle Street, Glasgow G3 8AG Scotland

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