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The Last Judgment (Bosch triptych, Bruges)

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Type
  
Oil-on-wood triptych

Year
  
1486

Artist
  
Hieronymus Bosch

Location
  
Groeningemuseum, Bruges

The Last Judgment (Bosch triptych, Bruges) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Dimensions
  
99 cm × 117.5 cm (39 in × 46.3 in)

Similar
  
Hell, Death and the Miser, St John the Evangelis, Crucifixion with a Donor, The Haywain Triptych

Bosch the last judgment


The Last Judgment is a triptych by Hieronymus Bosch and his workshop, created after 1486.

Contents

The triptych currently resides at the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, Belgium. The outside of the shutters are painted in grisaille, while the inside shutters and center are oil on panel.

Dimitrios skyllas on the last judgment by hieronymus bosch for piano


History

The work belonged to E. Gravet's collection, and then to that of Seligman, in Paris. In 1907 it was acquired by A. Bernaert, who donated it to the city of Bruges. In 1936 it was cleaned and was restored again in 1959. In that occasion, the grisaille painting of the external shutters were discovered, although damaged. The painting above the internal frames is lost.

The attribution of the work is dubious, due to its mediocre quality. Dendrochronologic analysis dated it from not before 1486.

Description

The painting's composition has similarities with the The Last Judgment triptych in Vienna and the Garden of Earthly Delights: both show the Garden of Eden in the left panel and the Hell at right.

Like in other contemporary Flemish triptychs, the shutters are externally painted in grisaille with an Coronation with Thorns.

In the central panel is Christ as a judge within a celestial sphere, flanked by angels who are playing the Trumpets of Last Judgement, and by the apostles. Below him is the punishment of sinners which, like the Last Judgement of Vienna, continues in the Hell depiction at right. At left is the Paradise, where the blessed souls are being shipped to Eden on a boat with a pink tent. The tower is a symbol of the Fountain of Eternal Youth, a more articulate version of which appears in the Garden of Delights.

The central panel is mostly occupied by insect-like demons who torture the men, punishments including burning, eating impure food (the gluttonous) etc., all inspired by Netherlandish Proverbs. The infernal city at right is under siege by demons, while a fire is visible in the far background.

References

The Last Judgment (Bosch triptych, Bruges) Wikipedia