This is a print of an allegorical scene featuring various symbols of arts and sciences. Closest to us, there is a winged cherub holding a rectangular mirror up to a kneeling, semi-nude woman on the right who is draped in fabric. The woman seems to look down at her reflection in the mirror. Behind the cherub, an old man appears to paint the woman, looking towards her as he holds his brush up to the canvas. Three more men are partially visible behind him, all seeming to use tools related to measurement. More tools and objects are scattered on the ground. There is a cat sitting near the bottom-left corner, and a bird flying in the sky near the upper-right corner. In the sky above is a radiant sun, casting light over the background of mountains and a calm sea with ships.
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This is a print of an allegorical scene featuring various symbols of arts and sciences. Closest to us, there is a winged cherub holding a rectangular mirror up to a kneeling, semi-nude woman on the right who is draped in fabric. The woman seems to look down at her reflection in the mirror. Behind the cherub, an old man appears to paint the woman, looking towards her as he holds his brush up to the canvas. Three more men are partially visible behind him, all seeming to use tools related to measurement. More tools and objects are scattered on the ground. There is a cat sitting near the bottom-left corner, and a bird flying in the sky near the upper-right corner. In the sky above is a radiant sun, casting light over the background of mountains and a calm sea with ships.

National Gallery of Art · Print

Artist Painting a Nude Woman: Allegory of Visual Perception

Jan Pietersz Saenredam after Hendrik Goltzius

Date
c. 1598; published 1616
Medium
engraving on laid paper
Classification
Print
Accession number
1973.59.3
Credit line
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Time span
1551 to 1600
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • Dutch
  • Woman
  • Nude
  • Cat
  • Putti
  • Cats
  • Man
  • Cherub
  • Ashtray
Inscription

in image at lower left, in plate: HG. Inuent. I. Saenr. scu. / R. de baudous 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 54052. 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.