Het gevoel (Tactus) 1561

Cornelis Cort made this engraving called ‘The Sense of Touch’ sometime in the 16th century. Here we see a female allegorical figure representing touch, surrounded by imagery relating to textures and surfaces. It’s impossible to consider this image without considering the booming print industry in the Netherlands at the time. Religious reformers like Martin Luther recognized the power of printed images to disseminate ideas and the Netherlands became a center for such production. Printmaking guilds, like the one Cort belonged to, also played a key role, establishing training, quality, and market practices. In the absence of copyright laws, artists like Cort were also businessmen who had to protect their images from being pirated. The inscriptions in the image serve to emphasize the artist's unique understanding of the body. As art historians, we need to study these social and institutional factors to better understand the artwork. Contemporary guild records and market data would help contextualize the image.