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Video: What secrets are kept by Bosch's most mysterious painting: "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
How many conjectures and fears the people had about the date 2020-20-02! The magic twos are long gone, but the end of the world theme is still popular. One of the most famous painters, whose canvases are full of horror and omen, is Hieronymus Bosch. Especially significant is his painting "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things", which is full of allegorical scenes and symbols. Let's try to figure it out?
About the artist
The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things is a painting traditionally attributed to Hieronymus Bosch, painted around 1500. Hieronymus Bosch was an extremely talented, eccentric and religious artist in the 15th century Netherlands. The theme of his paintings consisted mainly of theological warnings, which the artist skillfully conveyed through allegorical scenes and stories from the Bible. His most famous patron was King Philip II of Spain, who, oddly enough, was very interested in instructive paintings for his people. At that time and until the end of the 18th century, art served in part as an effective tool for influencing the masses, especially if these were the paintings of a court artist.
Philip II was an outstanding art collector and influenced significantly the arts and culture in Spain. The famous Prado Museum is now home to many of Bosch's works and other collections of the king. Little is known about Bosch's personal life, but his works are well known for their daring and sometimes terrifying depictions. His fantastic style has had a huge impact on the artists of the north, and Bosch's most famous follower is the Dutch Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
The plot of the picture
Incredibly, the masterpiece of Bosch we are examining - "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things" - was conceived as a piece of furniture to decorate the bedroom of the Spanish king Philip II. The work is a series of small scenes depicting ordinary people, each of whom commits one of the deadly sins under the watchful eye of Christ (depicted in the center). His presence reminds the sinner of the Last Judgment, but they stubbornly continue their misdeeds.
The symbolism of the picture
Four small circles - the last four things (what people encounter at the end of their earthly life) - symbolize "Death of a sinner", "Last Judgment", "Hell" and "Paradise". Small circles surround the larger one, which depicts the seven deadly sins. This is anger (below), then clockwise envy, greed, gluttony, despondency, lust and pride. All symbols reflect real scenes from life, not allegories. The center of the large circle represents the eye of God (and there is also a "pupil" in which you can see the image of Christ coming out of the grave). Below is the Latin inscription Cave Cave Deus Videt ("Fear, fear, for the Lord sees everything").
Analysis of canvas scenes
Each scene in the painting depicts a different sin. - in the scene with Pride, the vain aristocrat preeners in front of the mirror. She puts on her precious jewelry and her finest clothes to stare at her reflection again and again. And who is next to her? The demon who urges her to look in the mirror again and again - in the scene with Anger, an angry man, having quarreled with a neighbor, is going to kill a woman (murder as a consequence of Anger) - the panel about Greed depicts a rich nobleman bribing a judge with a bribe so that he acted in his favor and gave the order to take away all the money and property from the poor peasant - in the scene with Envy, people are depicted buying things that they do not need, simply because their acquaintances bought the same things earlier. This instructive scene should teach people to be content with what they already have and to refrain from unnecessary desires out of jealousy. The barking dogs here and the merchant with the bone are allegorical figures referring to the old Dutch proverb: "Two dogs with one bone rarely reach agreement" - on the panel with Despondency, a church nun cannot wake a lazy parishioner from her aimless sleep. The woman is fast asleep, showing no interest in the church or in anything other than sleep. And in this case, only Hell awaits her. The four small circles also have their own curious details. For example, in The Death of a Sinner, death itself is depicted on the threshold together with an angel and a demon, and the priest is already saying his last prayers. In the scene of the Last Judgment, Christ is shown in glory, at this time the angels awaken the dead, and in hell the demons torture the sinners.
Agree, a very interesting allegorical canvas. Only Bosch could create a picture with an amazing composition, moralizing, meticulous detailing and extremely interesting allegorical subjects. All this makes up the unique individual style of the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch.
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