L'Ouïe - Anonyme (d'après Hendrick Goltzius) - MM 1938E242

A woman in elegant late 16th-century attire sits at a keyboard instrument, her fingers poised on the keys. Behind her, a man leans forward to listen or sing along, creating a scene of domestic musical harmony. In the background to the left, a stag appears, serving as the traditional animal attribute for the sense of hearing.

This work reflects the Renaissance fascination with the five senses as the interface between the soul and the material world. In the Neoplatonic tradition, hearing was considered one of the 'higher' senses because it allowed for the perception of musical harmony, which was seen as an earthly echo of the divine mathematical order of the cosmos.