Artwork
Sense of Taste
Sense of Taste is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Adriaen van Ostade. It dates from 1635 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Specific iconographic elements include a herring, a bowl of soup, bread, and beer, which directly represent the physical experience of flavor.
Adriaen van Ostade's 1635 oil painting, Sense of Taste, is a genre scene illustrating the sensory perception of taste. The composition depicts a man and a woman engaged in eating and drinking. Specific iconographic elements include a herring, a bowl of soup, bread, and beer, which directly represent the physical experience of flavor.
Created in Haarlem, the work functions as an allegorical representation of one of the five senses through these everyday activities.
Technique & Style
The painting Sense of Taste (1635) is executed in oil on a wooden panel, a support typical of Dutch genre works from the 1630s. Adriaen van Ostade applied thin, layered brushwork to render the textures of food, glistening herring, steaming soup, frothy beer, while maintaining a balanced composition that emphasizes the act of eating and drinking. The work measures roughly 20 × 25 cm and was produced in Haarlem.
It belongs to the Hermitage Museum's collection, where it represents a genre painting that intertwines culinary detail with the sensory theme of taste.
History & Provenance
Sense of Taste is an oil-on-panel painting executed by Adriaen van Ostade in 1635 in Haarlem, measuring 20 by 25 centimeters. According to the catalogue record, it is classified as a genre scene depicting figures engaged in eating and drinking alongside objects associated with the sense of taste, including herring, soup, beer, and bread. The painting is held in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, where it is inventoried as GE-949.
No information regarding its commission, prior ownership, intermediate provenance, or acquisition history is provided in the available sources.
Overview
Adriaen van Ostade's oil painting, Sense of Taste, created in 1635, is a genre scene that captures a moment of everyday life. The work portrays a group of figures engaged in the simple pleasures of eating and drinking. This piece is currently part of the collection at the State Hermitage Museum, offering a glimpse into 17th-century Dutch domesticity.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Adriaen van Ostade (baptized as Adriaen Jansz Hendricx 10 December 1610 – buried 2 May 1685) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, showing the everyday life of ordinary men and women.
