A satirical etching by Cornelis Saftleven from his series on the five senses, depicting an allegorical figure representing the sense of touch.

This etching by Cornelis Saftleven, titled 't' Gevoel' (Sense of Touch), belongs to a series depicting the five senses through allegorical and satirical figures. Saftleven, a Dutch painter and printmaker active in Rotterdam, frequently explored themes of peasant life, grotesque figures, and moralising narratives. His work often incorporates elements of the fantastic, drawing inspiration from the tradition of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The composition features a hunched, elderly figure carrying an oversized hat on his back, which is adorned with a bird-like creature and a knife. The man leans forward, clutching a long staff, his posture suggesting the physical burden of his strange load. The inclusion of the knife and the bird serves as a symbolic reference to the sense of touch, a common trope in seventeenth-century allegorical art where tactile sensations were often represented through sharp objects or textures. The etching technique is precise, using fine lines to define the contours of the figure and the texture of his clothing, while the background remains sparse to focus attention on the subject. Saftleven's approach to the senses is characteristically droll. Rather than presenting an idealised or classical representation, he opts for a caricature that reflects the earthy, often cynical humour prevalent in Dutch genre art of the period. The figure's exaggerated features and the absurdity of the objects he carries invite the viewer to consider the physical and moral implications of the sense of touch. This print offers a glimpse into the imaginative world of the Dutch Golden Age, where everyday human experiences were frequently filtered through a lens of irony and visual wit. The work is a fine example of the period's interest in moral allegory expressed through the medium of printmaking.