Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 56, The Djanogly Gallery

Quinque Sensum descriptio

Etching
1646 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This is a type of print called an etching. An etching is produced by biting lines in a metal plate with acid to hold ink. The lines on the plate are filled with ink which is then printed onto paper. This is the title page to a set of five prints representing the Five Senses - Smell, Taste, Hearing, Touch and Sight. The title translates as 'Description of the five senses in that kind of painting that the Italians call grotesques'. Grotesque refers to a type of decoration based on Roman wall and ceiling paintings that were discovered in the 1480s in the buried ruins of Emperor Nero's Domus Aurea (Golden House) in Rome. Because such paintings were found underground in grottoes they were known as grotesques. In this print animals associated with all the senses appear entwined amongst the scrollwork, fruit and flowers surrounding the title. Each of these animals appears again in one of the accompanying prints under the appropriate sense.

People
Francis Cleyn etched these prints for the publisher Thomas Rowlett. Thomas Rowlett was one of the leading print publishers in London between 1645 and 1649.

Ownership & Use
These prints served a dual function. Collectors bought them as prints to be collected in their own right, while craftsmen bought them as sources for the decoration of objects they were making.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleQuinque Sensum descriptio (series title)
Materials and techniques
Etching, ink on paper
Brief description
Frontispiece to 'Quinque Sensum descriptio' (The Five Senses Described)
Physical description
1 of six etchings showing the five senses (and a frontispiece)
Dimensions
  • Print height: 8.8cm
  • Print width: 19.5cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 07/01/1999 by sp/nh mounted together with 5 others (709, 10, 11, 12 & 713-1927) on board 54 x37.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
Signed 'F. Clein inv.' dated '1646'
Gallery label
British Galleries: THE FIVE SENSES
The Five Senses of Hearing, Sight, Touch, Taste and Smell were popular subjects throughout the 17th century. They are found on a wide variety of objects of varying quality. Artists and makers usually depicted them as people involved in appropriate activities. On the ceramic dish is Hearing, the embroidered panel for a casket portrays Taste and all Five Senses are shown on the lining paper for a trunk.(27/03/2003)
Object history
Designed and etched by Francis Cleyn (born in Rostock, Germany, 1582, died in London, 1658); published in London by Thomas Rowlett (active 1645-1649)
Production
Signed and dated 1646
Summary
Object Type
This is a type of print called an etching. An etching is produced by biting lines in a metal plate with acid to hold ink. The lines on the plate are filled with ink which is then printed onto paper. This is the title page to a set of five prints representing the Five Senses - Smell, Taste, Hearing, Touch and Sight. The title translates as 'Description of the five senses in that kind of painting that the Italians call grotesques'. Grotesque refers to a type of decoration based on Roman wall and ceiling paintings that were discovered in the 1480s in the buried ruins of Emperor Nero's Domus Aurea (Golden House) in Rome. Because such paintings were found underground in grottoes they were known as grotesques. In this print animals associated with all the senses appear entwined amongst the scrollwork, fruit and flowers surrounding the title. Each of these animals appears again in one of the accompanying prints under the appropriate sense.

People
Francis Cleyn etched these prints for the publisher Thomas Rowlett. Thomas Rowlett was one of the leading print publishers in London between 1645 and 1649.

Ownership & Use
These prints served a dual function. Collectors bought them as prints to be collected in their own right, while craftsmen bought them as sources for the decoration of objects they were making.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1927, London: Board of Education, 1928.
Collection
Accession number
E.708-1927

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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