Auditus; Quinque Sensum descriptio

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 which is then printed onto paper. This is a page from a set of five prints representing the Five Senses - Smell, Taste, Hearing, Touch and Sight. As here, the Five Senses are generally represented as female figures engaged in some activity relating to the sense they portray. They are accompanied by an appropriate animal and by cherubs playing with objects associated with the senses.

This print shows 'Auditus' (Hearing). In depictions of the Five Senses, Hearing is usually shown with music. In this example the woman is playing a lute. At her feet is a rabbit and on either side of the niche are a deer and a stag - animals known for their acute hearing. Songbirds sit in the branches above. The cherubs to the left sing from a book, while on the right they play the bagpipes.

People
Francis Cleyn, who etched these prints, worked mainly for the Mortlake Tapestry Factory, where he was appointed chief designer in 1626. He probably later reused the central female figures in a set of tapestries at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire.

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.