Death and the miser

Bosch's Death and the Miser wooden panel is currently held in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It is known that it came from the collection of the art patron Samuel Henry Kress, and earlier it had been in the Viennese collection of Van der Helst.

Judging by the elongated vertical format and abrupt perspective reduction, Death and the Miser could be part of a triptych. In 2016, the four pieces of the triptych were brought together at the exhibition in 's-Hertogenbosch, the homeland of the artist. The outside shutter, which are known as "The Prodigal Son", arrived from Rotterdam. The Central panel of a triptych was probably lost. The Death and the Miser panel from the National gallery in Washington is the right wing, and The Ship of Fools from the Louvre, as well as the Allegory of Gluttony and Lust from the Art gallery of Yale University used to be the left wing of the triptych.

The subject originates from an early printed book, the Ars Moriendi or "Art of Dying," which enjoyed great popularity in the time of Bosch's. This small piece was first used exclusively by the priests to assist them in the preparation of sermons, but in the Renaissance and especially during the reformation it became widespread in Germany and the Netherlands. The death of a person is seen in the Ars Moriendi as a result of one's mediocre or righteously lived life. And the measurement was based on whether a dying person precepts or rejects Christ. The subject of Bosch's painting faces the same dilemma.

The viewer can see a bedroom with vaulted high ceiling and a bed under the canopy with a dying man. Traditionally depicted as a skeleton wrapped in a white shroud, Death is standing at his door. Death pointed an arrow but hesitates in indecision. The miser on his deathbed still has a chance for salvation. Before his death, he faces the same choice that had tempted him in life: money or salvation, purse or eternal life. From one side, the angel, who is carefully supporting the patient's back, points to the crucifix in the arch of the window opening near the ceiling. From the other side, the devil in the guise of an unseen monster (Bosch was particularly skillful in depicting such creatures) hands him the money bag.

While the New Testament warns that "you cannot serve God and mammon,"  the miser turns away from the angel and instinctively pulls his hands over the money bag. A variety of dark creatures surround the man. Obviously, those are the spirits of the underworld that gathered to persuade a dying man to their side. But the final choice has non yet been done. While the arrow of death has not been shot, the miser has a chance to reject the devil and to follow the angel in heaven.

In Medieval art, the coexistence of different time plans in the same space was a common practice. Bosch follows the same principle when he puts the death scene in the depths of the painting, and portrays the miser in his usual domestic setting in the foreground. He puts the coins in the bag that the devil opens for him, and at that moment, the miser forgets about a rosary at his belt and the window of the room that is marked with a cross.

The things that are gracefully scattered by Bosch along the lower edge of the panel are rather interesting. A cloak, peak, helmet and glove were hardly previously owned by the miser. Most likely, the attributes of chivalry are to be interpreted as symbols of allegiance to Christianity. Adherence to Christian duty in Gothic aesthetics was identified with the knight's honor.

Written by Anna  Vcherashniaya