Philippe Mercier, 1689 or 1691–1760, Franco-German, active in Britain (from 1716)
Title:
The Sense of Touch
Date:
1744 to 1747
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
52 x 60 1/2 inches (132.1 x 153.7 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1974.3.20
Gallery Label:
The composition is divided in half and (as in The Sense of Taste) turns on two pairs of lovers. On the left, having allowed the little girl to stroke her, the cat (center) has apparently without warning lashed out and scratched the young man, drawing blood. He soothes his finger, while the young lady at his side gestures in surprise. The amorous couple on the right experience no such painful interruption, though the young lady is aware that the viewer is watching them kiss, and aware that we are aware that she is aware. Two Chinese vases stand at either end of the mantelpiece, while the horizontally oriented oval painting in between, and the vertical one on the left, are classicizing landscapes. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2005