Zintuig gevoel 1581 - 1656

Curator: The artwork before us, titled "Zintuig Gevoel", was conceived by Nicolaes de Bruyn sometime between 1581 and 1656. It's currently held at the Rijksmuseum. What captures your immediate attention in this piece? Editor: The overwhelming sense of allegory, definitely. There is something almost unsettling about the woman's placid composure juxtaposed with the array of symbolic elements scattered around her—a bird, a tortoise, cherubs... It evokes a feeling of studied theatricality, perhaps. Curator: Exactly. De Bruyn creates a microcosm of societal values through this single allegorical figure. The woman, we can interpret, represents the sense of touch. Consider how she is gently interacting with the bird, a tangible demonstration. What else contributes to this allegorical effect, do you think? Editor: Well, we could consider the tortoise beneath her. Is that alluding to stability or perhaps a different speed of sensation, maybe resistance to quick pleasure? And then the mischievous cherubs, aren't they always about representing the multifaceted aspects of desire and physicality? Their positioning in the background adds to the complexity, like a reminder that raw sensation is never purely simple. Curator: The deliberate inclusion of varied textures in his style helps to further support this effect, I think. De Bruyn’s commitment to rendering through fine lines, visible shading—is this meant to give added clarity to feeling or provide distance and emotional restraint? I find myself conflicted, not certain that it brings me any closer to touching. Editor: A contradiction between representation and emotion! Fascinating, and certainly fits with a period so concerned with external performance meeting internal struggle. It certainly suggests a culture that feels acutely the potential disruptions inherent in tactile experience—its power to incite desire, disgust, and imbalance. Curator: Very well. The inscription underneath reinforces these elements to emphasize the dangers, but more positively, that we feel most poignantly when aware of all the dimensions present when ‘feeling’. De Bruyn asks for a society committed to touching deliberately and cautiously. Editor: It seems so; thank you, that adds layers to a previously understated print for me.