The Haywain Triptych - Hieronymus Bosch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jheronimus Bosch ca. 1450 – 1516

Haywayn triptych

oil on panel (135 × 200 cm) — c. 1516

  Museo del Prado, Madrid

Jheronimus Bosch biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 3:6

 

(창 3:6)

여자가 그 나무를 본즉 먹음직도 하고 보암직도 하고 지혜롭게 할 만큼 탐스럽기도 한 나무인지라 여자가 그 열매를 따먹고 자기와 함께 있는 남편에게도 주매 그도 먹은지라

 

 

This tryptich shows sin and what it leads to, starting with the original sin and the expulsion from Paradise and ending in Hell. The beleaguered haywain with its large haystack in the central panel stands for greed, one of the seven major sins. Devils pull the car to the right, towards Hell.

The greed causes all sorts of trouble, including fighting and even murder, as the dead man in the middle shows. In front of him a quack physician is shown. The hay that stocks out of his pocket shows he must be doing very well with his deceptive business. The same goes for the monk on the right, whose belly shows a preference for worldly joys.

A number of important people ride behind the haywain. They seem happy with themselves and unaware of where they are heading.

Bosch probably tried to point the viewer to the risks of falling for sins and earthly temptations. He shows that sinners end in Hell - quite a warning.

On the outside of the tryptich a wayfarer is shown, a character Bosch often used for symbolising man's journey in life.

An almost identical tryptich is also kept in Spain, in the Escorial.

 

 

 

 

 

The closed triptych.

 

Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450–1516) - Fig 43 from Self Portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary (Anthony Bond, Joanna Woodall, ISBN 978-1855143579).…

The Pedlar, closed state of The Hay Wain. Oil on panel, 1400 x 1000 mm (55 x 39 3/8"). Museo del Prado, Madrid.