Iconology of the Wayfarer Triptych – Detail

#472

Landscape background from The Pedlar

The great expanse of land and water that recedes from Patmos in the Berlin St John [Bosch, ca. 1500 (Johannes auf Patmos)], for example, may bring to mind the panoramas of Jacob van Ruisdael, and in the monochromatic veil which he drew across the background of the Rotterdam Wayfarer, Bosch hit upon a way to render the damp Dutch atmosphere which remarkably anticipates Jan van Goyen. In this, Bosch was inspired, perhaps, by his own landscapes in grisaille, such as the one in the Vienna Last Judgment [Bosch, ca. 1504-1508]. (p. 159)

Gibson, 1973

Hieronymus Bosch

#554

Landscape background from The Pedlar

she identifies the background figures with signs of the Zodiac [Philip, 1958]. (p. 112)

Cinotti, 1966

The complete paintings of Bosch

#578

Landscape background from The Pedlar

… the gallows on the hill behind the gate… warns us that the pilgrim will suffer spiritual death if his desires lead to his rebirth in the physical world. (p. 165)

Harris, 1995

The secret heresy of Hieronymus Bosch

#595

Landscape background from The Pedlar

The mood of the landscape is most aptly described as “dun”-a melancholy, lackluster mood such as pervades much of Walther von der Vogelweide’s poetry [von der Vogelweide, ca. 12-13th century]. (p. 258)

Fraenger, 1999

Hieronymus Bosch

#677

Landscape background from The Pedlar

In addition, Pigler [Pigler, 1950, 132] compared two other elements which the two works of art [Baldini, ca. 1464] have in common, the gallows and the swine [Panofsky-Panofsky, Giehlow & Saxl, 1923, 23, 132, note 2]. (p. 3)

Philip, 1958

The Peddler by Hieronymus Bosch, a study in detectio

#678

Landscape background from The Pedlar

Pigler [Pigler, 1950, 132] takes the pole in the background of the Bosch painting for a pillory and as such he compares it to the gallows in the print [Baldini, ca. 1464]. The gallows, too, is a traditional Saturnian element showing the disastrous effects of the planet whose “children” can be thieves and murderers [Panofsky-Panofsky, Giehlow & Saxl, 1923, 27]. (p. 4, note 10)

Philip, 1958

The Peddler by Hieronymus Bosch, a study in detectio

#883

Landscape background from The Pedlar

Bosch’s background setting mixes a characteristic Dutch dune landscape with cultivation in the form of trees. One wonders whether it could be intended to evoke a wilderness akin to that sought by his saints in retreat [Altdorfer , ca. 1515-1516; Silver, 1983, 34-35] (p. 259)

Silver, 2006

Hieronymus Bosch