Boy in a Turban holding a Nosegay

Today is our last Sunday with the amazing collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. We hope you enjoyed our November selection of their works.  : ) 

Boy in a Turban holding a Nosegay has been associated with the group of paintings that Sweerts executed at the end of his Amsterdam period. The subject of the present painting and the sex of the figure have been the focus of debate and have given rise to different interpretations. The gentle, delicate features and the turban hiding the hair make it difficult to define the subject precisely, and the canvas was previously entitled Figure in a Turban. It was only in 1958, when the painting was included in an exhibition on Sweerts in Rotterdam, that the sitter was described as a boy, a reading that has been maintained in the present day.

The fact that the boy is holding a nosegay has led to the suggestion that this is a representation of the sense of Smell. Sweerts executed two, now dispersed, series on the Five Senses. In one series, which uses a similar format to the present painting, five male figures in exotic dress hold objects and animals related to the senses. In the second series, which is smaller and now incomplete, young boys symbolize the senses through a snuffed-out candle, a musical score, and a finger bandaged to protect a small wound. No other work by Sweerts or attributed to him can be associated with the present canvas and thus indicate the existence of a third series. Objects such as flowers, sweet-smelling vegetables, and other scented materials, however, were traditionally used in art to evoke the sense of smell. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the nosegay is simply a decorative element in the painting.

- Mar Borobia

P.S. Here you can visit online the amazing Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum and get to know why this name doesn't sound Spanish and what wonderful masterpieces are kept in Madrid. <3