Lot 183: An allegory of Touch

Studio of Juan de Arellano (Santorcaz 1614-1676 Madrid)
An allegory of Touch
inscribed 'PALPAD' (lower right)
oil on canvas
42 x 65 1/8 in. (106.6 x 165.5 cm.)

Juan de Arellano was one of the most important painters of floreros , or still life painting in Spain in the seventeenth Century. Born at Santorcraz in 1614 and apprenticed to Juan de Solis and Juan de la Corte, he spent most of his productive life in Madrid where he had a studio in the Puerta del Sol, outside San Felipe el Real, where he enjoyed considerable favour amongst the wealthy and noble, adorning their palazzi with his exuberant and vividly coloured creations.
The artist's series of paintings devoted to the senses is one of his more unusual and appealing subjects, of which there are various versions of differing quality, all based on the same composition derived from the Flemish models spread through Adrian Collaert's prints after Martin de Vos, and executed under the supervision of Arellano in his workshop. The present work was produced in the workshop and would appear to be one of the pictures referred to in the artist's inventory, compiled on the 20th October 1676 as 'five canvases of...the five senses' (M. Agulls y Cobo, Una familia de pintores los Arellano , exhibition catalogue, Madrid, 1998, p. 34, no. 14).

A complete series of the senses by Arellano is located in Oviedo, in the Masaveu collection. There are also some single examples, such as An Allegory of Smell , in a private collection in Madrid, of excellent quality and similar dimensions to the present work, which would suggest that they may both be part of the same series. There are also some similarities between the present work and the Allegory of Touch from the Masaveu collection. In both paintings, the female figure is seated in the same manner with a bird perched on her left hand, pecking at her fingers, emphasizing the sense of touch, and she holds an arrow in her right hand, with two doves nestling in front of her, while to her left sits a monkey with a snail on its paw, also referring to the sense of touch. Both paintings are inscribed, lower right, 'PALPAL', and behind the monkey a marble relief depicts the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Heaven. However, the Masaveu version is not set at twilight as is the present work, and nor does it depict a bird resting on the branch of the tree. Likewise, the present work does not contain a depiction of a small painting of Christ helping Saint Peter, as in the Masaveu version.