Nicolas Arnoult, 1680, Allegorical Prints on Paper, Set of 4

Description

Four beautiful old prints, enhanced, whose author is Nicolas Arnoult, they were all engraved: "In Paris at Nicolas Arnoult rue … more Four beautiful old prints, enhanced, whose author is Nicolas Arnoult, they were all engraved: "In Paris at Nicolas Arnoult rue de la fromagerie à l'image St. Claude, aux halles, avec Privilège du Roy."

Nicolas Arnoult was an engraver and publisher of prints specializing in fashion engravings, allegories and portraits.

They were made with etching and burin, then enhanced by hand.
The papers have been carefully cleaned and the frames consolidated in the rules of art by the workshop Anaïs Peubez.

These are four historical allegorical scenes on the senses of the human being, we have here, the Hearing, the Touch, the Ghost, the Veue.

They are all part of the inventory of the collection of prints relating to the history of France bequeathed in 1863 to the National Library by Mr. Michel Hennin and then written by Georges Duplessis in Paris in 1882.

Period : XVIIth century
Circa : 1690
Dimensions : Height : 34,5cm x Width : 24cm

In the 17th century, series of images built around the theme of the five senses were particularly prized. 
They were used to decorate ceilings as well as to inspire engravings and paintings. 
Their composition can be based on codified allegories. 

There is an animal code: the deer is the hearing, the eagle or the cat the sight, the dog is the smell, the monkey personifies the taste, the tortoise the touch. 

Objects can play the same role, as is the case here for our prints: the mirror, the magnifying glass, for sight, flowers for smell, musical instruments for hearing, fruit or wine for taste, dice, cards or a statuette for touch. 

The purpose of these images can be essentially decorative, but often they are charged with a moral meaning. 

Traditionally, these motifs refer to the philosophy of Aristotle, a philosopher for whom the senses are the basis of human knowledge This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution less