Jheronimus Bosch ca. 1450 – 1516

Flood panels, outsides

oil on panel (69 × 36 cm and 69 × 39 cm) — c. 1514 Museum Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Jheronimus Bosch biography

Tags: Flood

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These are the reverse sides of the left and right wings of a triptych. The insides show the world before and after the Flood. The central panel is lost.

Each panel contains two tondos (roundels, or medaillons) with allegorical pictures. Bosch' message seems to be that true faith can save a man from the devil.

At the top left, a man is attacked by three devilish figures. Bottom left, the same man is blessed by Jesus (some sources state that the man is a survivor of a shipping disaster). In the background scene, he is handed clothes by an angel.

In the upper right tondo, in the gate of a burning city, someone is beaten up by a devil. The woman flees from the violence; the man kneels in prayer.

In the lower left tondo, the devil has taken the horse and plough from the farmer, who lies on the ground.

In 2015 the Bosch Research and Conservation Project attributed the panels to 'workshop of Jheronimus Bosch'. Yet the museum still attributes them to Bosch himself.

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