Hearing (Auditus), from "Quinque Sensuum"

Horizontal panel with the personification of Auditus (Hearing) shown as a female figure playing the lute beneath an arch at center. The arch is formed by the figures of two nudes turning into trees (Actaeon at left and Diana at right) and reaching to support a plaque at top center. Flanking the central scene are a horse (at left) and a stag (at right). Pairs of winged putti are shown at the bottom left and right corner, with the two at left holding an open book and those at right playing the bagpipe while seated on an orb. The series, consisting of a title and five plates with the senses personified by female figures, is titled 'Quinque sensuum descriptio, in eo picturae genere quod (Grottesche) vocant Itali' (Description of the Five Senses in that kind of painting that the Italians call grotesque). This set belongs to the 3rd edition, published in London by Robert Walton after 1646 (ca. 1655). An inscription on the title plate (45.101.1) credits Walton as the publisher ('SOULD BY RO: WALTON), but there are visible traces of the name and address of the publisher of previous editions.