Read the visual description
This is a drawing of various allegorical figures engaged in artistic and scientific pursuits. The composition includes a winged cherub-like figure holding an artist's palette and compass, a seated nude figure, and various objects such as a globe, geometrical shapes, and a cat. In the background, there is a ship sailing on water and a bird soaring in the sky. The scene is rendered with intricate line work.
National Gallery of Art · Print
Artist Painting a Nude Woman: Allegory of Visual Perception
Jan Pietersz Saenredam, after Hendrik Goltzius
- Date
- c. 1598; published after 1616
- Medium
- engraving on laid paper
- Dimensions
- plate: 24.4 x 18.5 cm (9 5/8 x 7 5/16 in.) sheet: 24.6 x 18.5 cm (9 11/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
- Classification
- Accession number
- 2012.92.596
- Credit line
- Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
- Time span
- 1551 to 1600
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- Female nude
- Costume
- Male nude
- Cherub
- Figures
Provenance
Franz Rechberger [1771-1843], Vienna (Lugt 2133). (David Tunick, Inc., New York); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased May 23, 1975; Gift to NGA, 2012.
Inscription
in image at lower left, in plate: HG. Inuent. I. Saenr. scu. / / Ioann: Iassonius. excudit, 1616.; in margin below image, in plate: Haec memini nocuisse atque oblectasse videntes. [I know from experience that this affords the beholder both harm and pleasure]
NGA object ID 154019. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.