Hang Around the World: Painting #027

Hieronymus Bosch

(c.1450–1516, Early Netherlandish)

He surnamed himself after the town of 's-Hertogenbosch, where he was born.

A triptych ([ˋtrɪptɪk] n.【宗】三幅相連圖畫) is a picture or relief carving on three panels, typically hinged together vertically and used as an altarpiece.

Death and the Miser

Dead and the Miser
- Hieronymus Bosch
- oil on oak panel (93 x 31 cm) 1485-1490
- National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)

Part of a triptych, it is a memento mori painting, meant to remind the viewer of the inevitability of death and the futility of the pursuit of material wealth, illustrating the sin of greed.

Triptych of the Garden of Earthly Delights

The Garden of Earthly Delights
- Bosch
- oil on triptych altar panel (205.5 x 385 cm) 1490-1500
- Museo del Prado (Madrid)

The Garden of Earthly Delights

(L) Paradise where God chats with Adam & Eve,

(R) Sufferings in Hell (where it is alleged that Bosch's self-portrait is in the upper centre at right under the "table".)

Detail: symbolizing youth is a spring with a blue tower, gathering wishers for rejuvenation

Detail: females alluring males riding on animals to join them in lake of happiness.

Ship of Fools

The Ship of Fools
- Bosch
- oil on wood (58 × 33 cm) c.1490-1500
- Louvre (Paris)

The second fragment of the left wing of a triptych.

Christ Carrying the Cross

Christ Carrying the Cross
- Bosch
- oil on panel (57 × 32 cm) c.1490-1500
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

Others in Dutch clothing of the 15th century.

Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony

Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony

- Bosch

- oil on wood (131.5 × 225 cm) 1505-06

- Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisbon)

Saint Anthony is kneeling in the middle of the middle panel, with demons and priestesses in the rest of the triptych.

Detail of the left panel

showing St Anthony supported by

two monks and a lay-man:

Detail of the central panel

including the man in a top hat

Detail of the right panel

showing the table of luxury:

The Haywain Triptych

The Haywain Triptych
- Bosch
- oil on oak panels (135 × 200 cm) c.1516
- Museo del Prado (Madrid)

When the two wings of The Haywain Triptych are flipped to shut it, their painted backs form a single scene depicting a wayfarer (see below).

Around him is a series of miniatures including the robbery of another wayfarer and a hanged man. The man uses a stick to repel a dog.

The Path of Life (aka The Pedlar)
- Hieronymus Bosch
- oil on panel (135 x 90 cm) 1510-16
- Museo del Prado (Madrid)

According to the most recent interpretations, this figure may represent the man who follows his road in spite of the temptation of sins (such as lust, perhaps symbolized by the two dancing shepherds) and the evil acts occurring around him.