Studio of Jan van Kessel

The figures are by another hand, probably by an artist working in the studio of Jan Brueghel the Younger (Antwerp 1601-1678).   The design of the present works derives from the series of paintings depicting the Five Senses in Madrid, Museo del Prado (inv. nos. 1394-8), by Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, Van Kessel’s grandfather.

Van Kessel painted several versions of both of these compositions.  A version of the former, which has variously been called Taste and Taste and Abundance, was sold London, Christie’s, 11 July 2001, lot 1, in which there are different figures around the table but the still life elements in the foreground compare extremely closely, with only minor alterations. Likewise, when compared with that of the same subject from Rubens and Jan Brueghel’s Five Senses, many of the still life details recur, such as the swan and plate of oysters on the lavishly-laid table, the hunting trophies and bowl of wild strawberries on the terraced ledge on the left, and the flamboyant array of dead game lining the front.  Van Kessel has also placed his allegory in a similar setting, in front of a colonnade looking out onto a manorial park and a large country house, a motif which appears regularly in his grandfather’s oeuvre.

A number of subjects have been suggested for the latter, including an Allegory of War and an Allegory of Touch.  When, however, it is compared to the Allegory of Touch in the Prado many of the elements recur; the cannons and suits of armour that would normally be associated with war are here associated with the sense of touch for their cold, smooth, metallic feel.  The implements with various serrated edges and sharp points that are arranged on the table on the right of the present painting are included likewise in the Prado work.  As one of the Five Senses, the subject-matter of the Prado painting is beyond any doubt, and with the many close similarities between the two in mind, it seems clear that Van Kessel intended the present work as an allegory of the sense of touch.