De Smaak (Taste) - Salomon Savery

A 17th-century Dutch etching by Salomon Savery depicting an allegorical scene of Taste, featuring a man smoking and a woman with a jug.

This etching by Salomon Savery, titled De Smaak (Taste), belongs to a series depicting the Five Senses. The work presents a typical Dutch Golden Age genre scene, focusing on the sensory experience of taste through the activities of two figures. A man sits on a wooden stool, occupied with a long-stemmed pipe, while a woman stands beside him holding a jug. The composition is straightforward, placing the figures against a neutral background to focus on their interaction and the objects they hold.

Savery employs precise line work to define the textures of the clothing, the smoke rising from the pipe, and the rough surfaces of the interior setting. The etching technique allows for subtle gradations of tone, which provide volume to the figures and depth to the scene. The man wears a hat with a feather, and his posture is relaxed, suggesting a moment of leisure. The woman, dressed in a simple cap and apron, appears to be offering a drink, connecting the two figures through their shared activity. The inclusion of a small object on the floor in the foreground adds a sense of domestic realism common to the period.

As a printmaker, Savery was active in Amsterdam and contributed to the dissemination of genre imagery that appealed to the tastes of the Dutch middle class. This work reflects the interest in allegorical representations of human experience, translated into the everyday lives of ordinary people. The print is marked with the number 4, indicating its position within the larger series. The clarity of the lines and the balanced composition demonstrate the technical skill characteristic of 17th-century Dutch printmaking. This piece offers a glimpse into the social habits and visual culture of the era, captured with a direct and observant eye.