Smaak (Gustus) 1542 - 1546

Georg Pencz created this engraving, "Smaak (Gustus)," whose date is unknown, now residing in the Rijksmuseum. Pencz was part of the German Renaissance, a period grappling with classical ideals and the rise of humanism. Here, a nude woman embodies ‘Gustus,’ or taste, one of the five senses, in the company of a monkey. The representation of women as allegorical figures during the Renaissance often placed them in a complex dynamic, reflecting both admiration and objectification. Pencz’s choice to depict taste with a nude woman and a monkey taps into historical associations of women and the senses, intertwined with ideas about beauty, desire, and the natural world. The inscription "Simiano Ssvperat Gvstvs" - the ape surpasses taste - may speak to the way that unbridled, animalistic appetite surpasses refined taste. "Smaak (Gustus)" invites us to think about how taste, gender, and the natural world were understood and represented in the past, reflecting enduring themes of human experience.