Touch (Tactus), from "The Five Senses"
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed at bottom): 2 15/16 × 2 1/16 in. (7.4 × 5.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Harry G. Friedman, 1957
Accession Number
57.658.56
Tags
Art Historical Context
Georg Pencz's *Touch (Tactus)*, part of his series *The Five Senses*, a delicate engraving from the Renaissance era, showcasing the artist's mastery in the Northern German tradition. Active in the early 16th century in Nuremberg and Venice, Pz was a prolific printmaker influenced by Albrecht Dürer, blending intricate line work with allegorical themes popular in humanist art. This small-scale print (just under 3 x 2 inches) captures the sense of touch through evocative imagery, including female nudes, looms, and spiders—symbols of tactile experiences like weaving textures and delicate web stran...
About the Artist
Georg Pencz · 1490–1550
Comment on works: Religious; History; Portraits