Each man in this painting symbolizes one of the five senses. The old man with glasses and a mirror represents Sight. The chitarrone, a type of bass lute, stands for Sound. The blind man is symbolic of the sense of Touch. The jolly man with a glass of wine in his hand portrays Taste, and the elegant young man with a pipe and garlic, Smell. The garlic, wine, music and mirror refer to the fallacy of sensory perception and the transience of life. The Ghent bishop, Antoon Triest, who also owned several paintings by Dutch masters, ordered this canvas from Rombouts.
| Artist |
Theodoor Rombouts
RKD
|
|---|---|
| Title | Allegory of the Five Senses |
| Date | ca. 1632 |
| Period | 17th century |
| Location | Antwerp TGN |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signatures (names) bottom right: THEODOOR ROMBOVTS F |
| Collection | paintings AAT |
| Object type | oil paintings (visual works) AAT |
| Inventory number | S-76 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Saint-Georges Ghent 1860 |
| Current whereabouts | Work on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/S-76 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/6855/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300055865
symbolism (artistic concept)
AAT
300055866 allegory (artistic device) AAT 300015636 landscapes AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
25D12(MARBLE)
kinds of non-precious stone: marble
Iconclass
25G11 groups of trees Iconclass 25G3 trees Iconclass 25G4(GARLIC) plants and herbs: garlic Iconclass 31A3 the (five) senses Iconclass 31A31 sight, looking (one of the five senses) Iconclass 31A312 magnifying glass Iconclass 31A32 hearing, listening (one of the five senses) Iconclass 31A33 smell, smelling (one of the five senses) Iconclass 31A34 taste, tasting (one of the five senses) Iconclass 31A35 feeling (one of the five senses) Iconclass 31A4111 blind, blindness Iconclass 31A511 mirror Iconclass 41A671 still life of plants, flowers and fruit Iconclass 41A771 container of metal: bucket, can, canister, drum, tin, etc. Iconclass 41C317 wine-cooler Iconclass 41C326 jar, jug (used as drinking-vessel) Iconclass 41C621 bread, loaf Iconclass 41C653 fruit Iconclass 41C653(MELON) fruit (MELON) Iconclass 41C711 wine ~ alcoholic drinks Iconclass 41C7111 glass of wine Iconclass 41C74 tobacco Iconclass 41C741 pipe ~ tobacco Iconclass 41D(+43) fashion, clothing (+ fur used for clothes) Iconclass 41D221(FEATHERED HAT) head-gear (FEATHERED HAT) Iconclass 41D27 drapery, draped garment, 'Gewandgebung' Iconclass 48C145 architectural settings in paintings, sculptures, etc. Iconclass 48C161 column, pillar ~ architecture Iconclass 48C24(+32) piece of sculpture, reproduction of a piece of sculpture (+ sculpture) Iconclass 48C7 music Iconclass 48C7311 violin, fiddle Iconclass 48C732 string instruments (plucked) Iconclass 48C7321 lyre, cithara, psaltery Iconclass 48C735 wind instruments Iconclass 48C7351 flute, aulos, tibia Iconclass 48C73512 clarinet, bassoon, oboe, shawm Iconclass 48C741 printed edition of musical score Iconclass 48C75 making music; musician with instrument Iconclass |
| School / Style |
Baroque
AAT
Caravaggism AAT |
| Théodore Rombouts et Gaspard de Crayer / Jules Du Jardin. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (s.d., p. 81-88) |
| Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche schilderschool / Frans Jozef Peter Van den Branden. - Antwerpen : J.-E. Buschmann, 1883 (p. 886) |
| Les cinq sens, par Théodore Rombouts / Louis Maeterlinck. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 4, nr. 37) |
| Catalogue du musée de peinture de la ville de Gand, 1900 / Louis Maeterlinck. - Gand : Imprimerie Victor Van Doosselaere, 1900 (nr. 69) |
| Het Museum voor Schoone Kunsten der stad Gent / Alfons Van Werveke. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 72) |
| De chronologie der werken van Theodoor Rombouts / Domien Roggen. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 178-179, 184) |
| De Noord-Nederlandsche schilderkunst / Godefridus Joannes Hoogewerff. - Den Haag : Martinus Nijhoff, 1936-1947 (p. 231) |
| Guide du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, Orné de 52 reproductions de tableaux : Extrait du guide illustré de Gand / Jos. Casier. - Gand : Anc. Maison d'édition Vanderpoorten, 1949 (p. 21) |
| Het Caravaggisme te Gent / Domien Roggen, Henri Pauwels, Antoine De Schrijver. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 227) |
| Theodoor Rombouts, I musicanti / A.B.. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 3, p. 56-57) |
| Art and architecture in Belgium : 1600 to 1800 / Horst Gerson, Englebert Hendrik Ter Kuile. - Harmondsworth : Penguin Books, 1960 (p. 124B) |
| Flemish Painters : Historical Survey (1430-1830) ; Dictionary ; Bibliographies ; Volume One - Two / Reginald Howard Wilenski. - London : Faber and Faber Limited, 1960 (jg. 1, p. 634) |
| 'The Musicians by Theodor Rombouts', in: The Register of the Museum of Art, The / Albert P. De Mirimonde. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 5, 3-4, p. 2-8) |
| Les sujets de musique chez les caravagistes flamands / Albert P. De Mirimonde. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 136-137, 139) |
| Theodoor Rombouts / Jan-Pieter Ballegeer. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 72-73) |
| Theodoor Rombouts / A. Lohaus. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 340) |
| Caravaggio und die Niederländer / Arthur Von Schneider. - Amsterdam : B.M. Israël, 1967 (p. 108-109, 138) |
| Theodoor Rombouts / Huguette Vanacht. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 8, p. 8a-b) |
| Barockthemen : Eine Auswahl von Verzeichnissen zur Ikonographie des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts / A. Pigler. - Budapest : Akadémiai Kiadó, 1974 (jg. 2, p. 484) |
| The international caravaggesque movement : Lists of pictures by Caravaggio and his followers throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650 / Benedict Nicolson. - Oxford : Phaidon, 1979 (p. 83) |
| The paragone debate : ten illustrations and a comment / Peter Hecht. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 2, p. 131-132) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Robert Hoozee. - Brussel : Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, 1988 (p. 41, 43) |
| XVIIe siècle : L'age d'or de la peinture flamande / Edith Greindl, Marie-Louise Hairs, Michel Kervyn. - [s.l.]. - La Renaissance du Livre, 1989 (p. 259) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent = Museum of Fine Arts Ghent / Claudie De Guillebon, Jacques Ostier, Robert Hoozee, Monique Tahon-Vanroose. - Parijs : Association des Amis de "Musées 2000", 1989 (p. 32 (ill.)) |
| Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart / Ulrich Thieme, Felix Becker. - Leipzig : Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1907-1950 (dl. 28, p. 560) |
| Van wijn in Gent tot Gent in wording : De Gentse wijnhandel tussen 1302 en 1795 en de wordingsgeschiedenis van Gent / Ronald De Buck, Johan Decavele. - Gent : Stichting Mens en Kultuur, 1995 (p. 53 (ill.)) |
| 'L'échanson de Théodore Rombouts: Une allégorie de la tempérance dévoilée', in: / Sophie Raux. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 196) |
| 200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (p. (ill. 41), 272) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. I, p. 24-145 (ill.)) |
| Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 38 (ill.)) |
| Regards grecs & latins sur le corps humain / Sylvie David, Lydie Beucler, Valérie Bondenet, Brigitte Planty. - Besançon : SCÉRÉN-CRDP de l'académie de Besançon, 2013 (p.135) |
| Antwerpen - Brugge - Gent : De musea en hun kunstschatten van Van Eyck tot Magritte ; ontdek het rijke erfgoed in drie Vlaamse steden ; de Vlaamse Kunstcollectie / Geert Souvereyns, Till-Holger Borchert, Paul Vandenbroeck. - Dijon : Éditions Faton, 2007 (p. 48 (ill.)) |
| La Figure ou le reflet de l'âme (exposition Cassel, musée de Flandre, 07.10.2017 - 01.04.2018) / Cécile Laffon, Sandrine Vézilier-Dussart, Jan Walgrave, Sophie Warlop. - Gand : Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen, 2017 (p.33) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021 |
| Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021 |
| Theodoor Rombouts : Virtuoos van het Vlaamse Caravaggisme (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 21.01 - 23.04.2023) / Frederica Van Dam, Timothy De Paepe, Wayne E. Franits, Astrid Harth, Liesbeth M. Helmus, Joost Vander Auwera, Gert Jan Van der Sman. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2023 ; Gent : Uitgeverij Snoeck, 2023 (p.28: afb.6; p.34: afb.14; p.77: afb.59; p.101: afb.87; p.114: afb.104; p.118: afb.108; pp.162-163: cat.22; p.241: afb.166; p.244: afb.169) |
| Theodoor Rombouts : Virtuoso of Flemish Caravaggism (exhibition Ghent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Ghent, 21.01 - 23.04.2023) / Frederica Van Dam, Timothy De Paepe, Wayne E. Franits, Astrid Harth, Liesbeth M. Helmus, Joost Vander Auwera, Gert Jan Van der Sman. - Ghent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2023 ; Ghent : Snoeck Publishers, 2023 (p.28: afb.6; p.34: afb.14; p.77: afb.59; p.101: afb.87; p.114: afb.104; p.118: afb.108; pp.162-163: cat.22; p.241: afb.166; p.244: afb.169) |
| Theodoor Rombouts : Virtuose du caravagisme flamand (exposition Gand, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gand, 21.01 - 23.04.2023) / Frederica Van Dam, Timothy De Paepe, Wayne E. Franits, Astrid Harth, Liesbeth M. Helmus, Joost Vander Auwera, Gert Jan Van der Sman. - Gand : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2023 ; Gand : Uitgeverij Snoeck, 2023 |
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