The Sense of Sight
Artist: Philippe Mercier (French, 1689–1760)
Date: 1744-1747
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, United States
Description
Echoing most closely the composition of The Sense of Hearing, this scene of three young women and a boy sitting with their tutor beside a parapet in the open air employs optical accessories to stand for the sense of sight. The gentleman examines with his magnifying glass a map of part of the east coast of Spain and the islands of Mallorca and Menorca, perhaps explaining to the girl seated beside him their geographical and political significance to Britain. Over his shoulder, the other two girls peer through a telescope (left) and tilt a small mirror (right), while the boy in the foreground bows his head and refrains from looking at anything.
