Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 98. (Budapest, 2003)

TÁTRAI, JÚLIA: 'Jacob de Backer invenit' - The Allegory of Smell. A New Aquisition of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

The copies, variations and prints made of the series bear witness to their popularity during this period.

39 The possible discovery of the lost Sense of Hearing panel may someday enable us to display the entire Budapest series, leading to greater recognition among art experts of those works belonging to the De Backer group. JÚLIA TÁTRAI Translated by Lara Michelle Strong 39 I was only able to consult the dissertation of L. Huet (see n. 22), where the author discusses other variants of the sense allegories by Backer, which had appeared at various auctions. These are: The Allegory of Smell, oil on panel 49x64 cm. Auctioned at Christie's, New York, May 31, 1979, no. 267 (cat. no. A34.1). The Allegory of Taste, oil on panel, 49x64 cm. Auctioned at Dorotheum, Vienna, Nov. 28, 1972, no. 37, as a work from the circle of Toussaint Dubreuil (cat. no. A35.1). The Allegory of Taste (no data). Auctioned at Kunsthaus am Museum, Cologne, Oct. 19, 1973, no. 1575, pi. 74, as a work of the Fontainebleau school (cat. no. A35.2). The Allegory of Touch, oil on panel, 44x60 cm. Auctioned at Galerie Fischer, Luzern, July 30, 0973, no. 482, as a work of J. A. Backer (cat. no. A36.3). The Allegory of Touch, oil on panel, 43x60 cm. Auctioned at Paleis voor Schone Künsten, Brussels, Oct. 26, 1971, no. 115. as a work of J. de Backer (cat. no. A36.4) The popularity of Backer's compositions is also shown by a complete series depicting the five senses, painted in Antwerp in the first half of the 17th century and preserved at the Picture Gallery at Dessau. The panels - in somewhat smaller size than the paintings in Budapest - are faithful copies of the original picture series (or the drawings made for them), although their style already reflects the influence of Rubens. The catalogue of the collection mentions four pieces from another series of lesser quality, documented in the Rubenianum, and now dispersed. Cf. Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie Dessau. Die altniederländischen und flämischen Gemälde des 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts, Kritischer Bestandskatalog 2. (Bearb. von Werche. B.), Weimar 2001, 18-22, ills. 545-549.1 thank László Lengyel for calling these paintings to my attention.