The Haywain Triptych
The Haywain Triptych | |
---|---|
Artist | Hieronymus Bosch |
Year | c. 1516 |
Medium | oil paint on oak panels |
Dimensions | 135 cm × 200 cm (53 in × 79 in) |
Location | Museo del Prado, Madrid |
The Haywain Triptych is a panel painting by the Early Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. A date of around 1516 has been established by means of dendrochronological research. The central panel, signed "Jheronimus Bosch", measures 135 cm × 200 cm (53 in × 79 in) and the wings measure 147 cm × 66 cm (58 in × 26 in). The outside shutters feature a version of Bosch's The Wayfarer.
History
The painting was part of a group of six acquired by King Philip II of Spain in 1570, and shipped to El Escorial four years later. It was later sold to the Marquis of Salamanca, and divided into three paintings. In 1848, the central panel was bought by Isabella II of Spain and brought to Aranjuez, the right one was returned to Escorial and the left went to the Prado. The triptych was finally recomposed in 1914 in the latter museum.[1] A copy exists at the Escorial.
Description
Shutters
The exterior of the shutters, like most contemporary Netherlandish triptychs, was also painted, although in this case Bosch used full colors instead of the usual grisaille. When closed, they form a single scene depicting a wayfarer. 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.
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.[1]
Main panels
The Haywain triptych follows a similar narrative to The Garden of Earthly Delights. The left panel shows God giving form to Eve. Unlike the Garden, though, a narrative sequence flows through the panel in different scenes. At the top, the rebel angels are cast out of Heaven while God sits enthroned, the angels turning into insects as they break through the clouds. Below this, God creates Eve from the rib of Adam. Next, Adam and Eve find the serpent and the tree; the serpent offers them an apple. Finally, at the lowest part of the panel, the angel forces the two out of the Garden of Eden. Adam speaks with the angel; Eve, in a melancholic pose, looks ahead to the right.
The central panel features a large wagon of hay surrounded by a multitude of fools engaged in a variety of sins, quite apart from the sins of lust which dominates the Garden of Earthly Delights. In the center panel Bosch shows Christ in the sky, not paralleled in the Garden. An angel on top of the wagon looks to the sky, praying, but none of the other figures see Christ looking down on the world. The rightward bow of the figures around the wagon provides the force for the viewer's eye to move with them on their journey and the cart is drawn by infernal beings which drag everyone to Hell, depicted on the right panel.
The forward kinetic motion of the participants moves the viewer from present-day sin into unadulterated torture in the realms of Hell. The procession on the left side of this panel bends back into the middle ground, but the right side figures continue in a straight line with the wagon, a more evident progress into damnation.[2]
Painting materials
The triptych was thoroughly investigated by the scientists at the Bosch Research and Conservation Project[3] with the results published in book form.[4] Bosch's palette was rather limited with pigments including azurite, lead-tin yellow, vermilion and ochres.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b Varallo, Franca (2004). Bosch (in Italian). Milan: Skira. p. 160. ISBN 9788857206158.
- ^ Minnick, Nathaniel (2005). Hieronymus Bosch's Triptychs in the Netherlandish Tradition (Speech). Seminar. University of Michigan.
- ^ The Bosch Research and Conservation Project
- ^ Hoogstede, Luuk; Spronk, Ron; Ilsink, Matthijs; Erdmann, Robert G.; Koldeweij, Jos; Klein Gotink, Rik (2016). Hieronymus Bosch, Painter and Draughtsman: Technical Studies. Yale University Press. pp. 296–313. ISBN 9780300220148.
- ^ Hieronymus Bosch, The Haywain Triptych, ColourLex
External links
- The Tricks of Leonardo da Vinci & Hieronymus Bosch. Xavier d'Hérouville & Aurore Caulier. December 2023. HAL Open Science
- The Haywain Triptych at El Escorial
- Hieronymus Bosch, The Haywain Triptych, ColourLex
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- List of paintings
- Adoration of the Magi (New York, c. 1475)
- Christ Child with a Walking Frame (1480s)
- St. Jerome at Prayer (c. 1482)
- Ecce Homo (Frankfurt, c. 1475–1485)
- Crucifixion with a Donor (c. 1480–1485)
- St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness (c. 1489)
- St. John the Evangelist on Patmos/Scenes from the Passion of Christ (c. 1489)
- Hell (after 1490)
- Cutting the Stone (c. 1494)
- Allegory of Gluttony and Lust (c. 1490–1500)
- Christ Carrying the Cross (Vienna, c. 1490–1500)
- Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child (c. 1490–1500)
- Ship of Fools (c. 1490–1500)
- Head of a Woman (c. 1500)
- The Wayfarer (c. 1500)
- The Conjurer (c. 1502; disputed)
- Christ Carrying the Cross (Madrid, c. 1505–1507)
- Christ Crowned with Thorns (London, c. 1510)
- Death and the Miser (c. 1490–1516)
- Flood Panels (c. 1514; attributed)
- The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things (c. 1500; disputed)
- The Temptation of St Anthony (Kansas City, c. 1500–1510)
- The Temptation of St Anthony (Madrid, c. 1505–1525; disputed)
- The Last Judgment (Vienna, c. 1482)
- The Hermit Saints (c. 1493)
- The Crucifixion of Saint Wilgefortis (c. 1497)
- Adoration of the Magi (Madrid, c. 1485–1500)
- Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony (c. 1501)
- The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1490–1510)
- The Haywain Triptych (c. 1516)
- Fall of the Damned into Hell (before 1490)
- Ascent of the Blessed (c. 1505–1515)
- The Last Judgment (Bruges, c. 1486; with workshop)
- Terrestrial Paradise (c. 1490–1516)
- Adoration of the Magi (Philadelphia, c. 1499)
- Head of a Halberdier (1490s – after 1500)
- The Last Judgment (Munich, c. 1506–1508)
- Ecce Homo (Indianapolis, 1510s)
- The Temptation of St Anthony (Utrecht, c. 1525–1530)
- Christ Crowned with Thorns (El Escorial, 1530s)
- Christ Carrying the Cross (Ghent, c. 1510–1535)
- Concert in the Egg (c. 1561)
- Adoration of the Christ Child (c. 1568)
- Death of the Reprobate
- Two Male Heads (c. 1480–1485)
- The Marriage Feast at Cana (after 1550)
- The Owls' Nest (c. 1505–1516)
- Hieronymus Bosch, Touched by the Devil (2015 documentary film)
- Jheronimus Bosch—Visions of Genius (2016 exhibition)