Circle Of Joos Van Winghe (c. 1590–1600), Allegories Of Hearing And Taste

Circleof Joos van Winghe
(An unidentifiedFlemish painter, most probably active in Frankfurt circa 1590-1600)
TheAllegories of Hearing and of Taste
Both oilon panel : 64,6 X 49,2 cm and 64,7 X 48,8 cm
Bothunsigned
Frames :79,2 X 63,7 cm and 79,0 X 63,7 cm

Absolute transparency: our cost price = 8.252 €
= acquisition price 4.554 € + shipment 188 € + restoration 3.510 €  

Our export price 10.523 €

Around1585 many wealthy Protestants fled from Antwerp, Brussels and other Flemishtowns to Frankfurt: they soon enriched the town financially, economically andculturally. These two paintings testify of the link between Flanders andFrankfurt.

Thehigh open-front lace collars (also known as fan ruffs or standing collars) thatboth ladies are wearing in our paintings were typical of the elite fashion inFrankfurt. They rise sharply behindthe neck, framing the woman's head like a fan and displaying her décolletageand neck. They were constructed by attaching costly bobbin or needle lace tofine linen. They required rigid wire frames (supportasses) underneath and heavystarching with specialized heated irons to stay upright. These costly laceruffs (the lace was probably imported from Antwerp) displayed the extremewealth and status of these ladies who, in Frankfurt, felt free from the severereligious austerity found elsewhere. 

The two men are both wearingtypical millstone ruffs.

All my paintings stand fully documented on my website:
https://www.jeanmoust.com/categories/portraits-genre-and-exterior-scenes/winghe-circle-of-joos-van/the-allegories-of-hearing-and-of-taste-7019056