The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things

This article is about the Hieronymus Bosch painting. For other uses, see Seven deadly sins (disambiguation).
The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things
Artist a follower of Hieronymus Bosch
Year around 1500
Medium Oil on wood
Dimensions 120 cm × 150 cm (47 in × 59 in)
Location Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things is a painting attributed to a follower of Hieronymus Bosch, completed around 1500 or later. Since 1898 its authenticity has been questioned several times. The Bosch Research Conservation Project confirmed it to be by a follower, but the Prado's scholars have dismissed this argument. The painting is oil on wooden panels and is presented in a series of circular images.

Four small circles, detailing the four last things — "Death of the Sinner", "Judgment", "Hell" and "Glory" — surround a larger circle in which the seven deadly sins are depicted: wrath at the bottom, then (proceeding clockwise) envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, extravagance (later replaced with lust), and pride, using scenes from life rather than allegorical representations of the sins.[1]

At the centre of the large circle, which is said to represent the eye of God, is a "pupil" in which Christ can be seen emerging from his tomb. Below this image is the Latin inscription Cave Cave Deus Videt ("Beware, Beware, God Sees").

Above and below the central image are inscription in Latin of Deuteronomy 32:28–29, containing the lines "For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them", above, and "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" below.

Disputed authorship

In 1560 Felipe de Guevara wrote about a pupil of Bosch, an unnamed discipulo, who was as good as his master and even signed his works with his master's name.[2] Immediately after this, and without starting a new paragraph, Guevara refers to the painting of the Seven Deadly Sins as characteristic of his style. This led some scholars, as early as Dollmayr (1898) and most vocally Stechow (1966), to ascribe the work to this pupil. Most experts have argued since, however, in spite of the context, that Guevara had returned to a description of the works of Bosch himself. For a considerable time, therefore, the painting was considered to be a work from Bosch's early period. The attribution to the discipulo was revived in the catalogue of the 2001 Bosch exhibition in Rotterdam, by Vermet and Vandenbroeck, who also suggested that several of the costumes suggest a much later date, around 1500, so that the awkward drawing and execution cannot be attributed to youthful imperfection. They also noted that the painting is not on oak, adding to their doubts about the attribution to Bosch.[3]

Historian Ed Hoffman in 2005 concluded that the amateurish style, the plump figures, the lack of white highlights and the fact that the wooden panel is not oak but poplar or cypress, argued for the work being a copy, perhaps ordered by Philip II of Spain after the original had been damaged. An argument for the authenticity, or at least originality, of the work could be found in the pentimenti of the underpainting, which indicate it could not have been a simple faithful reproduction.[4]

In October 2015, the Bosch Research and Conservation Project,[5] which had been responsible, since 2007, for technical research on most of Bosch's paintings, confirmed that they had rejected the attribution to Bosch and that they considered it to be made by a follower, most likely the discipulo.[6] In a reaction, the Prado Museum stated that they still consider the piece to be authentic.[7]

Content

Each panel in the outer circle depicts a different sin. Clockwise from top (Latin names in brackets):

  1. Gluttony (gula): A drunkard swigs from a bottle while a fat man eats greedily, not heeding the plea of his equally obese young son.
  2. Sloth (accidia): A lazy man dozes in front of the fireplace while Faith appears to him in a dream, in the guise of a nun, to remind him to say his prayers.
  3. Lust (luxuria): Two couples enjoy a picnic in a pink tent, with two clowns (right) to entertain them.
  4. Pride (superbia): With her back to the viewer, a woman looks at her reflection in a mirror held up by a demon.
  5. Wrath (ira): A woman attempts to break up a fight between two drunken peasants.
  6. Envy (invidia): A couple standing in their doorway cast envious looks at a rich man with a hawk on his wrist and a servant to carry his heavy load for him, while their daughter flirts with a man standing outside her window, with her eye on the well-filled purse at his waist. The dogs illustrate the Flemish saying, “Two dogs and only one bone, no agreement”.
  7. Greed (avaricia): A crooked judge pretends to listen sympathetically to the case presented by one party to a lawsuit, while slyly accepting a bribe from the other party.

The four small circles also have details. In Death of the Sinner, death is shown at the doorstep along with an angel and a demon while the priest says the sinner's last rites, In Glory, the saved are entering Heaven, with Jesus and the saints, at the gate of Heaven an Angel prevents a demon from ensnaring a woman. Saint Peter is shown as the gatekeeper. In Judgment, Christ is shown in glory while angels awake the dead, while in the Hell demons torment sinners according to their sins.

Details

Seven Deadly Sins

Four Last Things

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things.

References

  1. ↑ Claudia Lyn Cahan and Catherine Riley (1980). Bosch~Bruegel and the Northern Renaissance. Avenal Books. ISBN 0-517-30373-6.
  2. ↑ Felipe de Guevara (1560), Commentarios de la Pintura. English summary and commentary in: Stechow, Wolfgang, (1966), Northern Renaissance Art 1400-1600: Sources and Documents (paperback 1989, pp. 19-20).
  3. ↑ Koldeweij, J., P. Vandenbroeck, J. and Vermet, B. (2001), Jheronimus Bosch: The complete paintings and drawings, Harry N. Abrams, ISBN 978-0810967359, pp. 93 and 178.
  4. ↑ Ed Hoffman, 2005, "Een echte 'Jheronimus Bosch'? : Tien aandachtspunten", Bossche Bladen 3: 90-96
  5. ↑ "Bosch Research and Conservation Project".
  6. ↑ Twee beroemde werken toch niet van Jeroen Bosch, NOS, 31 October 2015
  7. ↑ Ferrer, Isabel (1 November 2015). "¿Pintó El Bosco los 'pecados' de El Prado?". El País. El Museo del Prado, de Madrid, por el contrario, cree que la tabla sí es del artista, y sus propias conclusiones aparecerán en mayo, cuando la exposición viaje a Madrid. [The Museo del Prado, Madrid, by contrast, believes that the table itself is by the artist, and their own conclusions appear in May when the exhibition travels to Madrid.]
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