An Allegory of Intemperance Artist: Hieronymus Bosch (Netherlandish, ca. 1450–1516)

ca. 1495–1500

European Art

On view, 2nd floor, European Art

This painting is a fragment: along with the Ship of Fools (Musée du Louvre, Paris), it formed the left wing of a triptych (now dismantled). Together, the paintings symbolize Gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins. The right wing of the triptych, Death and the Miser (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), embodies Avarice. The missing central panel most likely represented the remaining sins, Pride, Envy, Lust, Anger, and Sloth. Hieronymus Bosch’s unique imagery combined fantastical creatures, visual puns, and representations of proverbs to symbolize vice and its dangerous consequences. His powerful moral allegories were in demand throughout Europe, though their complex iconography may not always have been fully understood.

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

unframed: 13 3/4 × 12 3/8 × 5/8 in. (34.9 × 31.4 × 1.6 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Hannah D. and Louis M. Rabinowitz

Accession Number

1959.15.22

Geography

Made in The Netherlands

Culture

Netherlandish

Period

16th century

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Sir George Felix Neville Clay, 5th Baronet (1871-1941); sale, Christie's, London, 11 May 1928, lot 31; Galerie Malmedè, Cologne; Keulen; E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York, NY; Hannah D. and Louis Mayer Rabinowitz (1887-1957), Sands Point, Long Island; given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1959
This work appears on our "Artworks with Nazi-Era Provenance Documentation Gaps" page.
Bibliography
  • Pilar Silva Maroto, ed., Bosch: The 5th Centenary Exhibition, exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2016), 292–301, no. 38, ill
  • Noordbrabants Museum, Jheronimus Bosch: Visioenen van een genie, exh. cat. ('s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands: Fonds Mercator, February 13–May 8, 2016), 20–21, 22 (detail), no. 3, ill
  • John Varriano, Wine: A Cultural History, exh. cat. (London: Reaktion Books, 2010), 135, no. 60, ill
  • Susan B. Matheson, Art for Yale: A History of the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2001), 134–35, 156, fig. 132
  • Charles Seymour, "Louis Mayer Rabinowitz," Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale University 23 (September 1957), 11–12, fig. 1
  • Edna Perkel, An Exhibition of Paintings: for the Benefit of the Research Fund of Art and Archaeology, The Spanish Institute, Inc., exh. cat. (New York: E. and A. Silberman Galleries, Inc., 1955), 20, no. 8, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

human figures (visual works)

Subject

barrels (containers) tents

Technical metadata and APIs

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Open in Mirador

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