Iconology of the Wayfarer Triptych

#56

Knightly jousting objects, draped cloth with winged figure from Death and the Miser

The Narrenschiff beggar before the low wall has been transformed by Bosch into a veiled disparagement of knights and chivalry, suggested by the helmet, lance, gauntlet, sword, and shield. The objects seem to be related visually and conceptually to the nearby draped cloth and the little evil monkish figure behind it. There is a vague allusion to jousting and tournaments, a very popular form of entertainment in the late medieval period. Naturally tournaments were castigated in the literature, as in the sermons of Jacques de Vitay and in other writings [Bloomfield, 1952, 129, 172]. (p.275)

Cuttler, 1969

Bosch and the Narrenschiff: a problem in relationships

#57

Knightly jousting objects, draped cloth with winged figure from Death and the Miser

Some own a seal and patent good // They prove they are of noble blood. // They’re first, they claim quite rightfully, // To be dubbed in that family,… [Brant, 1944, 253]

Cuttler, 1969

Bosch and the Narrenschiff: a problem in relationships

#58

Figure with letter from Death and the Miser

Some own a seal and patent good // They prove they are of noble blood. // They’re first, they claim quite rightfully, // To be dubbed in that family,… [Brant, 1944, 253]

Cuttler, 1969

Bosch and the Narrenschiff: a problem in relationships

#103

Knightly jousting objects, draped cloth with winged figure from Death and the Miser

Clearly, the principal deathbed temptation here is avarice, although pride might also be suggested by the foreground trappings of status and power, in the form of knightly jousting equipment (hardly of any use to such an old man) and the official, seal-marked documents that demons display along with moneybags in the strongbox at the foot of the bed [vandenbroeck, 1987, 96-97.]. What this painting makes clear is that the issue of choice, expressed in the form of right seeing, is still being offered to this dying man, who opts in the (very) end for the sinful temptations of a demon rather than the way of the cross and the light urged by the angel. (p.630)

Silver, 2001

God in the Details: Bosch and Judgment(s)

#738

Knightly jousting objects, draped cloth with winged figure from Death and the Miser

… all of these articles were among those commonly pawned by people in need of cash in the late Middle Ages [Morganstern, 1982, 39:note 9]. Jewelry and plate were among the most common articles pawned by the nobility; the tournament knights were prone to pawn their jousting equipment; but clothing, kitchenware, and even bedding were commonly pawned by the poor [Bigwood, 1921, 479-506; de Roover, 1948, 114, 121; Cartellieri, 1929, 90]… There is a striking resemblance between his hoard and that of a proven usurer. The inventory made in 1368 of the household of Hugues du Chataignier, recently deceased canon at Rouen, mentions a collection of goods curious in the possession of a venerable canon, but similar in nature to the miser’s [Bishop, 1918, 423-425]… he had stored many belongings for which he could have no obvious use. The nature of this dubious assemblage was explained, however, by little labels found on some of the plate and jewelry, inscribed “put on pawn” by so and so. Hugues du Chataignier, canon at Rouen, was a clandestine usurer, an undeniable violator of the law of his church concerning lending at a profit. The position of the medieval church on the question of usury was unequivocal. It rested on the combined weight of the Bible, the patristic writings, and the councils [Noonan, 1957, 11, 14, 19-20, 30, 294-303; Postan, 1963, 564-570; de Roover, 1967, 28; Le Goff, 1979, 27-29]. (pp. 33-35)

Morganstern, 1982

The Pawns in Bosch’s” Death and the Miser”

#822

Knightly jousting objects, draped cloth with winged figure from Death and the Miser

In the right front corner of the setting lie the trappings of nobility – the armor sword lance and shield of the toutnament joust. Since’ these objects seem out of place in a chamber like this, Vandenbroeck hypothesizes that such objects are being held in pawn for acrual noblemen by tthe old man who would thus be identifiable as a usurer [Vandenbroeck, 2002, 104-107; Morganstern, 1982, 33-42]. Certainly in late-medieval canon law, usury was a mortal sin, one that prevented the taking of interest and acted as a brake on early economic development [Nelson, 1969; Noonan, 1957; Kaye, 1998, 79-87]. (pp. 240-242)

Silver, 2006

Hieronymus Bosch