Martin De Vos
Flemish, 1532-1603
Allegory of Sight,
drawing for a series of engravings of The Five Senses
pen and brown ink, and brown and grey washes, about
1580-1590
Ackland Fund, 79.62.1
Dos Vos portrays a female figure representing Sight, who contemplates
her
reflection in a mirror. Biblical events involving sight take place in
the background: at the left Christ heals a blind man, while on the
right
God shows Eden to Adam and Eve. Sight is accompanied by an eagle,
thought during this period to be able to stare into the sun without
risking blindness.