"Le plaisir est un météore Qui dans l'air brille et s'évapore ; Il fuit pour ne plus revenir : Hâte-toi donc de le saisir." Martial (livre I - Epigramme 16)
On the left of the middle panel, a curious procession of demonic creatures files past us. Here, Hieronymus Bosch exposes the administration of justice of his time. The severed leg of an executed person dangles from the wheel. A perforated swine refers to the strange custom of also judging sinful animals. This fantasy bird creature can be found in the foreground.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK: THE TEMPATION OF SAINT ANTHONY Saint Anthony won a lot of praise in Hieronymus Bosch's heyday. He resisted diabolical temptations, in sharp contrast with the ordinary mortals, as this triptych portrays in splendid colors. The closed panels show the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus.
ABOUT THE ART PERIOD: From an artistic point of view, the world famous brilliant forerunner of surrealism was, in his day, unique and radically different. Hieronymus (Jeroen for schort) Bosch was born (ca. 1450-1516) during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, in the Duchy of Brabant. Bosch places visionary images in a hostile world full of mysticism, with the conviction that the human being, due to its own stupidity and sinfulness has become prey to the devil himself. He holds a mirror to the world with his cerebral irony and magical symbolism, sparing no one. He aims his mocking arrows equally well at the hypocrisy of the clergy as the extravagance of the nobility and the immorality of the people. Hiëronymus Bosch’s style arises from the tradition of the book illuminations (manuscript illustrations from the Middle Ages). The caricature representation of evil tones down its terrifying implications, but also serves as a defiant warning with a theological basis.
"Le plaisir est un météore Qui dans l'air brille et s'évapore ; Il fuit pour ne plus revenir : Hâte-toi donc de le saisir." Martial (livre I - Epigramme 16)
On the left of the middle panel, a curious procession of demonic creatures files past us. Here, Hieronymus Bosch exposes the administration of justice of his time. The severed leg of an executed person dangles from the wheel. A perforated swine refers to the strange custom of also judging sinful animals. This fantasy bird creature can be found in the foreground.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK: THE TEMPATION OF SAINT ANTHONY Saint Anthony won a lot of praise in Hieronymus Bosch's heyday. He resisted diabolical temptations, in sharp contrast with the ordinary mortals, as this triptych portrays in splendid colors. The closed panels show the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus.
ABOUT THE ART PERIOD: From an artistic point of view, the world famous brilliant forerunner of surrealism was, in his day, unique and radically different. Hieronymus (Jeroen for schort) Bosch was born (ca. 1450-1516) during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, in the Duchy of Brabant. Bosch places visionary images in a hostile world full of mysticism, with the conviction that the human being, due to its own stupidity and sinfulness has become prey to the devil himself. He holds a mirror to the world with his cerebral irony and magical symbolism, sparing no one. He aims his mocking arrows equally well at the hypocrisy of the clergy as the extravagance of the nobility and the immorality of the people. Hiëronymus Bosch’s style arises from the tradition of the book illuminations (manuscript illustrations from the Middle Ages). The caricature representation of evil tones down its terrifying implications, but also serves as a defiant warning with a theological basis.