Allegory of Taste

Oil on canvas
108 x 88 cm.

In carved and gilded wooden frame 130 x 110 cm.

This sumptuous work of art depicts the allegorical portrait of a bursting young lady, seated in front of a set table on which we find game, artichokes and a container for salt, her head tilted to the left, her eyes half closed and a smile. hinted on the lips.

Richly dressed in a draped gown with strings of pearls and precious stones in her veiled hair, she wears a pearl necklace around her neck, precious cameos, earrings and bracelets adorned with precious stones. With her shoulder and breasts slightly uncovered, the young woman holds a crystal goblet filled with wine in her left hand while with her right she takes an oyster.

A little monkey, with a pendant earring embellished with small red stones, sits on her shoulder and bites into cherries.

It is a painting by the Flemish master Theodoor van Thulden (Netherlands 1606 - 1669) - monogram TVT lower right (on the shadow that the decorated plate projects on the tablecloth) - a pupil of Abraham Bryenbergh in Antwerp and later a close collaborator of Rubens.

The iconography, very famous and sought after at the time, derives from a prototype made by Abraham Janssens, and in particular from an allegorical series of the Five Senses, which therefore included four other representations, also personified by sumptuous female figures accompanied by animals and particular objects.

Allegorical representation, as a symbolic allusion to the content of sensory experience, became extremely popular thanks to Baroque painting.

In the seventeenth century, such series of paintings built around the theme of the five senses, the composition of which appealed to fully codified allegories, were particularly appreciated. There was in fact an animal code: the deer was hearing, the eagle or the cat the sight, the dog the smell, the turtle the touch, while the monkey, which we see in the present works, precisely the personification of taste.

The objects played the same role: the mirror for sight, the flowers for the sense of smell, the musical instruments for the hearing, the dice and the cards or even a statuette for the touch, and finally, of course, the wine and the food for taste.

The opulence and wealth evoked by this painting, as well as the extravagance (the monkey wearing a jewel to his ear) mirror the life of wealthy 17th-century nobles and bourgeois in Antwerp, an important port and place of trade, and explains therefore the great success that these creations enjoyed among art collectors, eager to have a version of it in their breakfasts.

The contrast between the illuminated flesh and the dark colors of the fabric, the light touches of the complexion, pearls and stones, the plasticity of the sculptural forms, powerful lighting, are perfectly recognizable elements of the style of our painting.

The painting is in good condition, with a beautiful gilded wooden frame.

We take care and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. For any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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