The Five Senses (pair of paintings) meal; a lutenist is playing and children singing, epitomising hearing, while one young woman strokes a mink in her arms, representing touch, and another is about to eat oysters, representing taste. Details such as the clavichord and other musical instruments on the left relate to hearing, and a monkey is pulling the hair of a Cupid, a form of touch. The room and the hall visible in the right rear display pictures which are also related to the three senses: "The Annunciation" and "Minerva's Visit to Parnassus" (hearing), "The Dentist" (touch), and "The Punishment of Rich Epulon" and "The Wedding
The Five Senses (pair of paintings) Allegorical paintings representing the five senses as female nudes had become fashionable in the previous century, but Brueghel introduced the illustration of the theme by means of assemblages of works of art, musical instruments, scientific instruments and military equipment, accompanied by flowers, game and fish, which was widely adopted by Flemish artists. The two paintings were commissioned by the City of Antwerp to be presented to the archducal couple, and were executed by "twelve of the best masters of [the] city". They were paid for in October 1618. In 1619 they were in the audience chamber at Tervuren Castle. In