1595
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Smell is a 1595 ink by Jan Pietersz Saenredam, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows two people holding flowers close to their noses. The man on the left wears a necklace and holds a branch with leaves, while the woman on the right touches a small blossom. Both look serious, almost lost in thought, with detailed curls in their hair and soft folds in their clothing. The background is filled with tiny, crisscrossed lines—this is cross-hatching, a way to add shadows and depth without color. The Latin text at the bottom reads like a poem, hinting this isn’t just a portrait but a story about smell. Try looking up technique: engraving to see how artists like Saenredam created these sharp, layered lines.
Jan Pieterszoon (abbr. Pietersz.) Saenredam (c. 1565 – 6 April 1607) was a Dutch Northern Mannerist painter, printmaker in engraving, and cartographer, and father of the painter of church interiors, Pieter Jansz…
See the richer artist page
