Bosch and the Jews

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Bosch and the Jews JOHANNES HARTAU new york university Bosch and the Jews osch’s art combines a double dimension: the visible world and the moral behind it; all things are supplemented by a dark other-worldly Bpresence of evil. Bosch’s pictures reflect the religious conflicts of the Middle Ages, full of eschatologic and apocalyptic expectations. Essential to this fight is the prophetic thinking that the Old Testament will be supple- mented by the New Testament, overcoming Jewish thinking. In art historical literature, one question is seldom asked: did Hieronymus Bosch fight against heresy, especially of Jewish origin? That there exists a connection between Bosch and the Jews has been ad- vanced by some scholars, foremost among them Wilhelm Fraenger.1 However, Fraenger’s method of associative exegesis cannot be tested in any meaningful scholarly sense, even if some of his findings are worthy of reconsideration, e.g. the connection to Jewish thinking. Lotte Brand Philip covincingly pressed Fraenger’s idea forward and connected the strange fourth king in the “Adoration” (Madrid) with the Jewish messiah (i.e. the An- tichrist).2 Later, Edward Cohen also dealt with some Jewish themes in Bosch’s work.3 1. Many of Fraenger’s articles published since 1943 are collected in the book Wilhelm Fraenger, Hieronymus Bosch. Dresden: Verlag der Kunst 1999, cited in the first edition 1975 (English editions since 1983). 2. Lotte Brand Philip, “The Prado ‘Epiphany’ by Jerome Bosch”, The Art Bulletin 35, 1953, pp. 267-293. 3. Edward Cohen, “Jheronimus Bosch and Victor van Carben…”, Studia Rosenthaliana 18, 1984, pp. 1-11; same: Jeroen Bosch. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Boek, 1975. 29 ANALES DEL INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES ESTÉTICAS, NÚM. 86, 2005 30 johannes hartau Bosch’s social background is reasonably well known: he belonged to the wealthy class of Hertogenbosch citizens, not least through his propitious marriage to Aleid van de Meervenne.4 His social rank can also be surmised through his commissions, at least through the patrons he portrayed. It is possible that he had contacts to local Jews. Unfortunately, the history of the Jews of Hertogenbosch during the Middle Ages is sketchy. We do, however, know of a Jewish settlement in “Achter het Wilt Vercken”.5 The way Bosch thought about Jewish issues can only be guessed at on the basis of his paintings.6 I will here have to restrict myself to one example, the New Triptych,7 but I believe that this contains the key to the entire oeuvre; through the New Triptych one finds exactly those themes that are vital for Bosch’s view: the fighting against sensuality and greed. The New Triptych, which is made up of the fragments Ship of Fools (fig. 1), Gula (fig. 2), Death of the Miser (fig. 3) and the Pedlar (fig. 4),8 is an 4. Paul Vandenbroeck, “Jheronimus van Aken en de stad ‘s-Hertogenbosch”, In Buscoducis: 1450-1629; kunst uit de Bourgondische tijd te ‘s-Hertogenbosch; de cultuur van late middeleeuwen en renaissance, Deel 2, Wetenschappelijke bijdragen, Adrianus M. Koldeweij (ed.), Maarssen 1990, pp. 395-402; Godfried C. M. van Dijck, Op zoek naar Jheronimus van Aken alias Bosch. De feiten: familie, vrienden en opdrachtgevers, ca. 1400-ca. 1635. Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek, 2001. 5. Christoph Cluse, Studien zur Geschichte der Juden in den mittelalterlichen Niederlanden. Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 2000; J. Bader, “Uit stof en as”. Joden in Noord-Brabant in vroeger eeuwen: de Nederlands Israëlitische Hoofdsynagoge 's-Hertogenbosch, 1799-1843. Breda: Vereniging ‘Vrienden Synagoge Breda’ 1998, p. 3; Germania Judaica, III, 1330-1519, Teil 1, Ortschaftsartikel Aach-Lychen, Arye Maimon (ed.). Tübingen: Mohr, 1987, p. 553; J. Becker, “‘s-Hertogenbosch de oudste joodse gemeente in de noordelijke Nederlanden”, Studia Rosen- thaliana 18, 1984, pp. 74-78. 6. Good reproductions in Roger H. Marijnissen and Peter Ruyffelaere, Hieronymus Bosch. The Complete Works. Tabard Press, 1987. From the recent publications: Roger Schoute and Monique Verboomen, Jérôme Bosch. Tournai: La Renaissance du Livre, 2003; Carmen Garrido: Roger van Schoute, Bosch at the Museo del Prado. Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2001. 7. See author: “A newly-established triptych by Hieronymus Bosch”, Jérôme Bosch et son en- tourage et autres études. Colloque XIV, 13-15 septembre 2001, Bruges-Rotterdam, Hélène Verougstraete et Roger Van Schoute (ed.) (Le Dessin sous-jacent et la technologie dans la peinture, XIV), Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters 2003, pp. 33-38. 8. The Pedlar, oil/wood, octagon, 71 × 70.6 cm, diameter of circle 64.6 cm; Catalogue Van Eyck to Bruegel: 1400-1550; Dutch and Flemish Painting in the Collection of the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Friso Lammertse (ed.), Rotterdam: Museum Boymans-van Beuningen 1995, No. 16, pp. 91-95 (cited as: Catalogue Rotterdam, 1995); Friso Lammertse and bosch and the jews 31 1. Bosch, Ship of Fools, Louvre. early variant of the Haywain triptych — excluding the middle panel, which remains unaccounted for (fig. 5). The left-hand wing (containing Ship of Fools and Gula) depicts sloth, careless selfishness, as displayed by the passen- gers in the boat, profligate drinking, as manifested by the barrel-rider, and unchaste love, as represented by the couple in the tent. This couple could be regarded as the core from which all sins derive, hence this wing could aptly Annetje Roorda Boersma, “Jheronimus Bosch, ‘The Pedlar’: a Reconstruction, Restoration and Painting Technique”, in Verougstraete, 2003 (see note 7), pp. 102-118. 32 johannes hartau 2. Bosch, Gula, New Haven. be titled Luxuria, offering a counterpart to Avarice on the opposite wing. In the picture we see representatives of a religious order, burghers and aristo- crats, even a fool — but no Jew. And yet the vices exemplified here are pre- cisely those conventionally associated with the Jews. A number of symbols do, however, allude to the Jewish world. First, the pennant: normally, the half-moon stands for the Turkish world. Bosch’s use of the crescent moon in bosch and the jews 33 3. Bosch, Death and the Miser, Washington, National Gallery of Art. other paintings, such as Crowning with Thorns and Ecce Homo,9 demon- strates his reference to the Jewish world, possibly meaning the threatening “otherness” of the heretic world as such. Second, a detail in the boat, the pancake (“mop” in Dutch) hanging on a thread, alludes to the carnival tradi- tion and to the depictions of fools, as we encounter them in manuscripts de- picting Psalm 52 (“Dixit insipiens in cordo suo non est Deus”). It is possible 9. “Crowning with Thorns”, London (L’opera completa di Bosch, apparati critici e filologici di Mia Cinotti, Milano: Rizzoli Editore, 1968, Classici dell’arte, 2, No. 57 ; referred to as: “Cin.” plus No.); Marijnissen, 1987 (see note 6), p. 353; Ecce Homo, detail, background, Frankfurt/M, Städel (Cin. 10; Marijnissen, 1987, pp. 369, 373). 34 johannes hartau 4. Bosch, the Pedlar, Rotterdam, Boymans-Van Beuningen Museum. that Bosch has also the Jewish tradition in mind: the Jewish “mazzah” found attached to the wall in the synagogue “symbolises the main meal and domes- tic community of all Jewish inhabitants of the district”.10 Third, the paw in the heraldic standard of the tent: it is a pig’s trotter, which can be explained by the image of the pig as a symbol of gluttony. Jews are often depicted in a disreputable way by being linked to the pig.11 Pigs’ trotters always crop up in Bosch’s work wherever gluttony or impending poverty are concerned,12 since 10. Cluse, 2000 (see note 5), p. 354, fn. 289; Bax shows examples of fools “snapping at a sus- pended edible object” in manuscripts of the 14th and 15th centuries (Dirk Bax, Hieronymus Bosch. His Picture-writing Deciphered. Rotterdam: Balkema, 1979, p. 189, figuras 77, 78; Dutch edition: Ontcijfering van Jeroen Bosch, 1949). For the “mazzah”: Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem, 1971, vol. 11, pp. 1155-1158. 11. Isaiah Shachar, The Judensau: A Medieval Anti-Jewish Motif and its History. London: Warburg Institute, 1974 (Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts, 5); Claudine Fabre-Vassas, The Singular Beast: Jews, Christians, and the Pig. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997 (French, 1994). 12. Gula in The Seven Deadly Sins, Madrid (Cin. 2) and The Temptation of Saint Anthony, right wing, Lisbon (Cin. 43; Marijnissen, 1987 [see note 6], p. 202); Merrymakers and Helmets, bosch and the jews 35 5. Bosch, reconstruction of the the New Triptych (fragments from Paris, New Haven, Rotterdam and Washington). it is this small residue of the pig that could be given away to the poor.13 The drawing, Paris (Inventaire général des dessins des écoles du Nord, maîtres des anciens Pays- Bas nés avant 1550, Frits Lugt (ed.), Paris, 1968, No. 69, p. 25; color pl., Catalogue Jheronymus Bosch, ed. A. Koldeweij. Rotterdam, 2001, p. 160. 13. Other proposals: Bax 1979 (see note 10): “trotter… of billy — or nanny-goat”, p. 301; Tóth-Ubbens: “herte-poot” (Magdi Tóth-Ubbens, verloren beelden van miserabele bedelaars: leprozen, armen, geuzen. Lochem: De Tijdstroom, 1987, p. 48). 36 johannes hartau 6. Anonym, De Judeo…, woodcut (Brant, Esopi appologi, 1501). barrel-rider also belongs to this context of gluttony as a parody of Bacchus. But since he wears a funnel, a Jewish allusion is possible: Jews are depicted with a pointed hat. There could be an allusion to the “avarus” too, who, ac- cording to the ancients, was seen as a dropsy sufferer: the more he drank, the thirstier he became. In other words, the more money he has, the more he wants.14 The Jews were considered lazy, and, as the reproach went, rather than earning their bread “by the sweat of their brows” like the Christians, they preferred to let their money work for them.15 Jews quite simply epito- 14.
Recommended publications
  • The Sides of the North
    The Sides of the North The Sides of the North An Anthology in Honor of Professor Yona Pinson Edited by Tamar Cholcman and Assaf Pinkus The Sides of the North: An Anthology in Honor of Professor Yona Pinson Edited by Tamar Cholcman and Assaf Pinkus This book first published 2015 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2015 by Tamar Cholcman, Assaf Pinkus and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-7538-4 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7538-7 PROFESSOR YONA PINSON CONTENTS Editors’ Introduction .................................................................................. ix List of Publications by Professor Yona Pinson ........................................ xxi Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 A New Bosch Epiphany? Adoration of the Magi Reassembled Larry Silver, University of Pennsylvania Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 20 From Flensburg to Constantinople: Cosmopolitanism and the Emblem in Melchior Lorck’s Self-Portraits Mara R. Wade, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    [Show full text]
  • Destructive Pigment Characterization
    Looking for common fingerprints in Leonardo’s pupils through non- destructive pigment characterization LETIZIA BONIZZONI 1*, MARCO GARGANO 1, NICOLA LUDWIG 1, MARCO MARTINI 2, ANNA GALLI 2, 3 1 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, , via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy) 2 Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano (Italy) and INFN, Sezione Milano-Bicocca. 3 CNR-IFN,piazza L. da Vinci, 20132 Milano (Italy). *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract Non-invasive, portable analytical techniques are becoming increasingly widespread for the study and conservation in the field of cultural heritage, proving that a good data handling, supported by a deep knowledge of the techniques themselves, and the right synergy can give surprisingly substantial results when using portable but reliable instrumentation. In this work, pigment characterization was carried out on twenty-one Leonardesque paintings applying in situ XRF and FORS analyses. In-depth data evaluation allowed to get information on the colour palette and the painting technique of the different authors and workshops. Particular attention was paid to green pigments (for which a deeper study of possible pigments and alterations was performed with FORS analyses), flesh tones (for which a comparison with available data from cross sections was made) and ground preparation. Keywords pXRF, FORS, pigments, Leonardo’s workshop, Italian Renaissance INTRODUCTION “Tristo è quel discepolo che non ava[n]za il suo maestro” - Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master - Leonardo da Vinci, Libro di Pittura, about 1493 1. 1 The influence of Leonardo on his peers during his activity in Milan (1482-1499 and 1506/8-1512/3) has been deep and a multitude of painters is grouped under the name of leonardeschi , but it is necessary to distinguish between his direct pupils and those who adopted his manner, fascinated by his works even outside his circle.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution and Ambition in the Career of Jan Lievens (1607-1674)
    ABSTRACT Title: EVOLUTION AND AMBITION IN THE CAREER OF JAN LIEVENS (1607-1674) Lloyd DeWitt, Ph.D., 2006 Directed By: Prof. Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. Department of Art History and Archaeology The Dutch artist Jan Lievens (1607-1674) was viewed by his contemporaries as one of the most important artists of his age. Ambitious and self-confident, Lievens assimilated leading trends from Haarlem, Utrecht and Antwerp into a bold and monumental style that he refined during the late 1620s through close artistic interaction with Rembrandt van Rijn in Leiden, climaxing in a competition for a court commission. Lievens’s early Job on the Dung Heap and Raising of Lazarus demonstrate his careful adaptation of style and iconography to both theological and political conditions of his time. This much-discussed phase of Lievens’s life came to an end in 1631when Rembrandt left Leiden. Around 1631-1632 Lievens was transformed by his encounter with Anthony van Dyck, and his ambition to be a court artist led him to follow Van Dyck to London in the spring of 1632. His output of independent works in London was modest and entirely connected to Van Dyck and the English court, thus Lievens almost certainly worked in Van Dyck’s studio. In 1635, Lievens moved to Antwerp and returned to history painting, executing commissions for the Jesuits, and he also broadened his artistic vocabulary by mastering woodcut prints and landscape paintings. After a short and successful stay in Leiden in 1639, Lievens moved to Amsterdam permanently in 1644, and from 1648 until the end of his career was engaged in a string of important and prestigious civic and princely commissions in which he continued to demonstrate his aptitude for adapting to and assimilating the most current style of his day to his own somber monumentality.
    [Show full text]
  • Jheronimus Bosch-His Sources
    In the concluding review of his 1987 monograph on Jheronimus Bosch, Roger Marijnissen wrote: ‘In essays and studies on Bosch, too little attention has been paid to the people who Jheronimus Bosch: his Patrons and actually ordered paintings from him’. 1 And in L’ABCdaire de Jérôme Bosch , a French book published in 2001, the same author warned: ‘Ignoring the original destination and function his Public of a painting, one is bound to lose the right path. The function remains a basic element, and What we know and would like to know even the starting point of all research. In Bosch’s day, it was the main reason for a painting to exist’. 2 The third International Bosch Conference focuses precisely on this aspect, as we can read from the official announcement (’s-Hertogenbosch, September 2012): ‘New information Eric De Bruyn about the patrons of Bosch is of extraordinary importance, since such data will allow for a much better understanding of the original function of these paintings’. Gathering further information about the initial reception of Bosch’s works is indeed one of the urgent desiderata of Bosch research for the years to come. The objective of this introductory paper is to offer a state of affairs (up to September 2012) concerning the research on Bosch’s patronage and on the original function of his paintings. I will focus on those things that can be considered proven facts but I will also briefly mention what seem to be the most interesting hypotheses and signal a number of desiderata for future research.
    [Show full text]
  • November 2012 Newsletter
    historians of netherlandish art NEWSLETTER AND REVIEW OF BOOKS Dedicated to the Study of Netherlandish, German and Franco-Flemish Art and Architecture, 1350-1750 Vol. 29, No. 2 November 2012 Jan and/or Hubert van Eyck, The Three Marys at the Tomb, c. 1425-1435. Oil on panel. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. In the exhibition “De weg naar Van Eyck,” Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, October 13, 2012 – February 10, 2013. HNA Newsletter, Vol. 23, No. 2, November 2006 1 historians of netherlandish art 23 S. Adelaide Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904 Telephone: (732) 937-8394 E-Mail: [email protected] www.hnanews.org Historians of Netherlandish Art Offi cers President - Stephanie Dickey (2009–2013) Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art Queen’s University Kingston ON K7L 3N6 Canada Vice-President - Amy Golahny (2009–2013) Lycoming College Williamsport, PA 17701 Treasurer - Rebecca Brienen University of Miami Art & Art History Department PO Box 248106 Coral Gables FL 33124-2618 European Treasurer and Liaison - Fiona Healy Seminarstrasse 7 D-55127 Mainz Germany Contents Board Members President's Message .............................................................. 1 Paul Crenshaw (2012-2016) HNA News ............................................................................1 Wayne Franits (2009-2013) Personalia ............................................................................... 2 Martha Hollander (2012-2016) Exhibitions ............................................................................ 3 Henry Luttikhuizen (2009 and 2010-2014)
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice
    Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice PUBLICATIONS COORDINATION: Dinah Berland EDITING & PRODUCTION COORDINATION: Corinne Lightweaver EDITORIAL CONSULTATION: Jo Hill COVER DESIGN: Jackie Gallagher-Lange PRODUCTION & PRINTING: Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZERS: Erma Hermens, Art History Institute of the University of Leiden Marja Peek, Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science, Amsterdam © 1995 by The J. Paul Getty Trust All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN 0-89236-322-3 The Getty Conservation Institute is committed to the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide. The Institute seeks to advance scientiRc knowledge and professional practice and to raise public awareness of conservation. Through research, training, documentation, exchange of information, and ReId projects, the Institute addresses issues related to the conservation of museum objects and archival collections, archaeological monuments and sites, and historic bUildings and cities. The Institute is an operating program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. COVER ILLUSTRATION Gherardo Cibo, "Colchico," folio 17r of Herbarium, ca. 1570. Courtesy of the British Library. FRONTISPIECE Detail from Jan Baptiste Collaert, Color Olivi, 1566-1628. After Johannes Stradanus. Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum-Stichting, Amsterdam. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Historical painting techniques, materials, and studio practice : preprints of a symposium [held at] University of Leiden, the Netherlands, 26-29 June 1995/ edited by Arie Wallert, Erma Hermens, and Marja Peek. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-89236-322-3 (pbk.) 1. Painting-Techniques-Congresses. 2. Artists' materials- -Congresses. 3. Polychromy-Congresses. I. Wallert, Arie, 1950- II. Hermens, Erma, 1958- . III. Peek, Marja, 1961- ND1500.H57 1995 751' .09-dc20 95-9805 CIP Second printing 1996 iv Contents vii Foreword viii Preface 1 Leslie A.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecce Homo Svetlana Gasanova* , Nikolas Bakirtzis and Sorin Hermon
    Gasanova et al. Herit Sci (2017) 5:33 DOI 10.1186/s40494-017-0145-2 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Non‑invasive sub‑surface analysis of the male portrait underlying the Titian’s Studio Ecce Homo Svetlana Gasanova* , Nikolas Bakirtzis and Sorin Hermon Abstract The present study discusses new research on the analysis of a portrait of a male fgure discovered under the painting of Ecce Homo, attributed to the studio of Titian (ca. 1488–1576), with an estimated date in the 1550s. The portrait was examined with non-invasive methods: X-ray radiography (XRR), digital microscopy and micro-XRF. The examination of XRR images exposed the details of the painting’s underlying depiction, which according to the details preserved appears to be a completed or nearly fnished portrait of a standing man. The application of digital microscopy on the Ecce Homo painting’s cracks enabled the identifcation of the work’s stratigraphy. Micro-XRF performed on selected spots allowed to identify lead white, vermilion, red iron oxide, umber, carbon black and copper green in the underly- ing portrait. The described investigation methodology was guided by the close visual analysis of the Ecce Homo work and proved to be efective in the identifcation of the pigments of the hidden painting and the reconstruction of its colour palette. Keywords: Hidden painting, Micro-XRF, X-ray radiography, Digital microscopy, Titian, Ecce Homo Introduction the pictorial layers. However, the reading of XRR and IRR Te reuse and repainting of canvases was a common images might be complicated as the images result from practice in artists’ workshops.
    [Show full text]
  • Thoughts About Paintings Conservation This Page Intentionally Left Blank Personal Viewpoints
    PERSONAL VIEWPOINTS Thoughts about Paintings Conservation This page intentionally left blank Personal Viewpoints Thoughts about Paintings Conservation A Seminar Organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Research Institute at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, June 21-22, 2001 EDITED BY Mark Leonard THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE LOS ANGELES & 2003 J- Paul Getty Trust THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE Getty Publications 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 Timothy P. Whalen, Director Los Angeles, CA 90049-1682 Jeanne Marie Teutónico, Associate Director, www.getty.edu Field Projects and Science Christopher Hudson, Publisher The Getty Conservation Institute works interna- Mark Greenberg, Editor in Chief tionally to advance conservation and to enhance Tobi Levenberg Kaplan, Manuscript Editor and encourage the preservation and understanding Jeffrey Cohen, Designer of the visual arts in all of their dimensions— Elizabeth Chapín Kahn, Production Coordinator objects, collections, architecture, and sites. The Institute serves the conservation community through Typeset by G&S Typesetters, Inc., Austin, Texas scientific research; education and training; field Printed in Hong Kong by Imago projects; and the dissemination of the results of both its work and the work of others in the field. Library of Congress In all its endeavors, the Institute is committed Cataloging-in-Publication Data to addressing unanswered questions and promoting the highest possible standards of conservation Personal viewpoints : thoughts about paintings practice. conservation : a seminar organized by The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Research Institute at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, June 21-22, 2001 /volume editor, Mark Leonard, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Reinterpreting Hieronymus Bosch's Table Top of the Seven
    REINTERPRETING HIERONYMUS BOSCH'S TABLE TOP OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS AND THE FOUR LAST THINGS THROUGH THE SEVEN DAY PRAYERS OF THE DEVOTIO MODERNA Eunyoung Hwang, B.A., M.F.A. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2000 APPROVED: Scott Montgomery, Major Professor Larry Gleeson, Committee Member Don Schol, Committee Member and Associate Dean William McCarter, Chair of Art History and Art Education Jack Davis, Dean of the School of Visual Art C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Hwang, Eunyoung, Reinterpreting Hieronymus Bosch's Table Top of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things through the Seven Day Prayers of the Devotio Moderna. Master of Arts (Art History), August 2000, 140 pp., 35 illustrations, references, 105 titles. This thesis examines Hieronymus Bosch's Table Top of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. Instead of using an iconographical analysis, the thesis investigates the relationship between Bosch's art and the Devotio Moderna, which has been speculated by many Bosch scholars. For this reason, a close study was done to examine the Devotio Moderna and its influence on Bosch's painting. Particular interest is paid to the seven day prayers of the Devotio Moderna, the subjects depicted in Bosch's painting, how Bosch's painting blesses its viewer during the time of one's prayer, and how the use of gaze ties all of these ideas together. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS…………………………………………………………………………………………… iv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Statement of the Problem Methodology Review of Literature 2.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Hieronymus Bosch's Musical Instruments and Their Dissonant Revolution
    Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Spring 2011 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Spring 2011 The Rise of the Sentient Musical Instrument: A Study of Hieronymus Bosch's Musical Instruments and their Dissonant Revolution Liza Young Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2011 Part of the Art and Design Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Young, Liza, "The Rise of the Sentient Musical Instrument: A Study of Hieronymus Bosch's Musical Instruments and their Dissonant Revolution" (2011). Senior Projects Spring 2011. 229. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2011/229 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 The Rise of the Sentient Musical Instrument A Study of Hieronymus Bosch’s Musical Instruments and their Dissonant Revolution Senior project submitted to The Division of the Arts Of Bard College By Liza Young Annandale-on-Hudson, NY May 2011 2 Acknowledgments This project could not have been completed without my family and friends’ support of my increasingly bizarre interests.
    [Show full text]
  • Perpetrators & Possibilities: Holocaust Diaries, Resistance, and the Crisis of Imagination
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Theses Department of History 8-3-2006 Perpetrators & Possibilities: Holocaust Diaries, Resistance, and the Crisis of Imagination Eryk Emil Tahvonen Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Tahvonen, Eryk Emil, "Perpetrators & Possibilities: Holocaust Diaries, Resistance, and the Crisis of Imagination." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2006. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_theses/14 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PERPETRATORS & POSSIBILITIES: HOLOCAUST DIARIES, RESISTANCE, AND THE CRISIS OF IMAGINATION by ERYK EMIL TAHVONEN Under the Direction of Jared Poley ABSTRACT This thesis examines the way genocide leaves marks in the writings of targeted people. It posits not only that these marks exist, but also that they indicate a type of psychological resistance. By focusing on the ways Holocaust diarists depicted Nazi perpetrators, and by concentrating on the ways language was used to distance the victim from the perpetrator, it is possible to see how Jewish diarists were engaged in alternate and subtle, but nevertheless important, forms of resistance to genocide. The thesis suggest this resistance on the part of victims is similar in many ways to well-known distancing mechanisms employed by perpetrators and that this evidence points to a “crisis of imagination” – for victims and perpetrators alike – in which the capability to envision negation and death, and to identify with the “Other” is detrimental to self-preservation.
    [Show full text]
  • Today Hieronymus Bosch Is Most Readily Associated with Images of Hell and Its
    CHAPTER 1 A NEW BOSCH EPIPHANY? ADORATION OF THE MAGI REASSEMBLED Larry Silver, University of Pennsylvania For Yona Pinson, colleague and friend Today Hieronymus Bosch is most readily associated with images of Hell and its torments or with the temptation of isolated hermit saints by legions of demons. Among his Gospel subjects, however, Bosch’s most popular (and most copied) imagery features the scene of Epiphany. That event, associated with the twelfth night of Christmas season, occurred when the wise men or “Magi” from “the East” (traditionally three in number in visual art) came to Jerusalem, led by the star in the East, to view the King of the Jews, the new-born infant Jesus (Matthew 2:1–11). In tribute they brought luxury gifts, fit for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Although pagans, these foreign kings were the first Gentiles to acknowledge the divinity and royal supremacy of the Christ Child. Their holy relics were later to enjoy special veneration in a magnificent golden shrine from the early thirteenth century created by Nicholas of Verdun, in Cologne Cathedral, the archdiocese of the Netherlands.1 During the period of Bosch’s early career, Netherlandish visual conventions of the late fifteenth century pictured the Three Magi as representatives of the three ages of mankind (youth, maturity, and old age) as well as the three Old World continents 1 Franz Günter Zehnder, Die Heiligen Drei Könige: Darstellung und Verehrung (Cologne: Wallraf- Richartz-Museum, 1982). (Africa, Asia, and Europe).2 Europe, the most senior by virtue of being the first to adopt Christianity, is usually shown as the oldest, white-haired Magus, given the most favorable position, kneeling closest to the Christ Child.
    [Show full text]