The sense of hearing

Allegorical references to the senses abound in still life paintings, therefore it is not surprising that works specifically on the subject were common... in sets of paintings, each one symbolising a different sense in turn.  Wellington owns four from such a set, Sight, Smell, Hearing and Taste... but unfortunately not the fifth work, Touch. The set had obviously been split up, and while the three little girls are in identical period frames, the boy who holds a telescope to his eye has a more contemporary one.  The set of four was attributed to the French painter Philippe Mercier (c. 1689 - 1760) at a sale in London in 1922, and at the time they were gifted to the National Gallery in Wellington in 1945, but the facial features are more rounded, lacking the heart-shaped outlines and doll-like features which mark Mercier's work.  When they were examined by Dr John Ingamells from the Paul Mellon Center for British Art in 1998, he decided that although they were in the vein of Mercier, who painted in both France and England, they were not by his hand.  Mercier certainly painted sets of the senses, but those clearly identified as by his hand are groups of adults rather than children.

Source: Mary Kisler, Angels & Aristocrats: Early European Art in New Zealand Public Collections, Auckland, 2010, pp. 222-223.