IconographyThe Seven deadly sins and the four last things

Artist: Hieronymus BoschYear: Around 1500Type: Oil on woodDimensions: 120 cm x 150 cmLocation: Museo del Prado, Madrid

The renaissance painting that I have chosen is Hieronymus Bosch’s The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things because it is very different from the other works by other artists of the renaissance period, like Da Vinci for example. While most of the renaissance paintings depicted highly realistic linear perspective and the beauty of nature, Bosch’s paintings were more surreal, satire and pessimistic.

The background of the painting is just simply black while the composition of the painting consists of mainly four small circles at each corner, showing Death, Judgment, Hell and Glory, and a larger circle in the middle, which is then separated into seven different scenes depicting the seven different deadly sins; Wrath, Avarice, Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Sloth and Lust. This allows the five discs to stand out against the plain black background. For the scenes, a mixture of warm colours like red and yellow, as well as cool colours like blue and green are used. Even though a variety of colours are used, the painting in general is not very brightly coloured but has a dark

tint to it instead. For Wrath, the depiction would be the one at the bottom, which shows a woman restraining a drunken man holding a wine flask, whom is probably her husband, from fighting. For Avarice, a corrupted judge is seen taking a bribe. In Envy, an ordinary man is seen looking longingly at a wealthy aristocrat. In Pride, a woman admires herself in a mirror, which is held by a devil disguised as a maid. For Gluttony, a thin man is seen drinking wine while a fat man and his child feast on meat, while the wife brings in another platter of meat. In Sloth, a man sleeps in front of a fire while a nun reminds him of his religious duties. Finally in Lust, men and women flirt, drink and eat. There are also inscriptions in Latin verses from the Book of Deuteronomy, warning the consequences of sin. On the top, it reads “For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them,” and “O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.” at the bottom. At the center of the large circle, it shows Jesus Christ and right below the image, there is another Latin inscription Cave Cave Deus Videt, which means “Beware, Beware, God Sees”. This means that God is able to see all the deeds and sins that people make.

As for the four circles, Death depicts an ill man on his deathbed, with an angel and devil at the top of his bed, probably either one to take him to Heaven or Hell based on his deeds or sins during his time on Earth. In ‘Heaven’, the souls who have made it are seen admitting into Heaven, while contrastingly, those who have sinned are entered into Hell and tortured. For example, those who have lusted are roasted by fire, while those who were greedy are boiled. Also in the painting, Bosch used images of demons and half-human animals, which evokes fear and confusion. The fact that that area is mostly painted in black and red also evokes the emotion of fear. It is also unrealistic because in real life, there is no such natural setting. Thus, it further shows how surreal this painting is. Finally in The Last Judgment, the dead are put before Christ for him to choose which ones get to reincarnate and those whom do not.

In my opinion, this painting portrays how people can commit sins in their everyday lives and that God is very aware of their sins. It also shows just how Bosch felt the world was corrupted by man’s presence in it. By painting them out, he in a way ‘exposes’ the sins that people are committing everyday. The painting also hints that people will get what they deserve, those whom do good deeds will rise to heaven, while those who have sinned will get their deserved punishment in Hell. This just shows how Bosch was such an imaginative and complex person because of the many underlying meanings hidden within the scenes of the painting. However though, because the painting is painted in a very surreal and unrealistic way, it also suggests that it is more of the evil thoughts that man have and that those scenes may not really happen in real life.