Historical Context
Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) was one of the leading painters in early 16th-century Northern Europe. He descended from a family of painters, with his grandfather and father providing Bosch with an artistic background and legacy. He was born in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and signed his works as “Bosch” in honor of his hometown; therefore, he is not widely known by his family name, van Aken. Like the later and equally famous Johannes Vermeer, Bosch painted relatively few works, but the quality and expertise of his paintings easily establish him as an Old Master.
Presently, only seven signed works by Bosch exist, with a total of 30 paintings attributed to him. Therefore, Bosch was an artist of quality over quantity. His style is mysterious with implied allusions and metaphors. Hence, Bosch regularly invites the viewer to interpret his open-ended images. Death and the Miser is one such masterpiece where sins, morals, and damnation blend into a visual feast of conflicting hope and pessimism.
General Composition
Death and the Miser is an oil on panel measuring 93 × 31 cm (36 5/8 × 12 3/16 in.). It presents a spiritual narrative where a miserly man is dying in the presence of Death, an angel, several demons, and a flashback to his earlier life. The miser sits within a red canopy bed that looks warm, comfortable, but not outrageously expensive. It is somber and utilitarian.
Death
The showstopper of the painting is Death, represented by a skeletal figure on the left side of the painting. The emaciated and grotesque form peers around a wooden door with a long, sharp arrow held in its right hand. Its black, empty eye sockets and toothy, gaunt smile highlight its macabre animation.
Bosch depicts Death in the traditional personification of a cadaver. It is nude and draped in the shroud of a corpse. It acts within the realm of the living as a constant threat to shortened lives and unfulfilled destinies. Death has its blank stare upon the sickly man in bed to its right. Bosch’s Death is the precursor to the popular 19th-century personification of the Grim Reaper.
Miser
A deeply ill man sits on his deathbed and faces the skeletal Death. His angular face, thin arms, and bony chest echo the gaunt form of Death and suggest the man’s approaching demise. However, before he succumbs to Death’s advances, he is caught in a last-minute spiritual war between salvation and damnation. The man is guilty of miserliness, which is the extreme desire to gather and hoard money and to lack generosity toward others. To be a miser is a seriously grievous Christian sin.
Angel
To the right of the miser is an angel with white wings, blonde hair, and clad in a white robe. The angel’s left hand rests on the man’s left shoulder, while his right hand is outstretched and gesturing upwards. The angel’s eyes are locked on the image of Jesus on the crucifix in the far upper left corner of the painting. The angel is beckoning the miser to embrace the divine message of Jesus so that he may achieve eternal salvation and forgiveness for his sins. The Angel wants to help the man, but the man’s eyes are not looking at Jesus. Will the miser ever look at the beam of divine light, or is he lost forever?
Fish Demon
Surrounding the miser are six demons in different hideous forms. The closest demon perches on the left of his deathbed. It has a fish-like face reminiscent of the infamous 1950s horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon. It holds a cream colored sack of money that it offers to the dying man. The demon is tempting the man to accept money over salvation. It is the final temptation in a miser’s life.
Monkey Demon
Above the bed canopy is a monkey-like demon who holds a fire brazier on a long pole. The monkey demon is peering over the canopy edge and is a spectator to the spiritual fight between the angel and the fish demon. The monkey demon’s fire brazier is a symbol of the eternal fires of hell. It reminds the viewer, and not the miser who he cannot see it, that hell is always an option as an eternal destination.
Rat Demon
At the base of the bed is a large chest, which is most likely a strongbox used to hold money and precious documents. Inside the chest is a rat-like demon holding a brown sack of gold coins. Like an invisible force, it is encouraging the man in green to the left to acquire and add more coins to the bag. Interesting to note, the strongbox is held open by a knife, which is a painterly symbol of anger. The sin of anger was as grave as miserliness. Thus, the strongbox with the demon inside represents the culmination of two deadly sins.
Man in Green
Despite the facial similarity to the miser, the man in green is not a relative. It is, in fact, the miser, but earlier in his life, when he still had his health. Unlike paintings from the 18th century and onwards, paintings from the 17th century and earlier frequently depicted multiple moments within the same image. These small scenes would allow the artist to depict a complex narrative by showcasing the different steps along the story. With Bosch’s Death and the Miser, the story is the corruption of the soul and the spiritual battles at the end of life.
The miser in green depicts him, earlier in his life, collecting and acquiring his money and sins. He is greedily adding coins to the strong box, while ironically grasping a rosary in his left hand. The miser in green represents and criticizes Christians who claim to be faithful, pious, and perhaps God-fearing, while simultaneously committing great sins.
Bat Demon
At the bottom left corner of the strongbox is a bat-like demon. It holds an official-looking document with a red wax seal. Many scholars believe the document represents indulgences, which were payments towards the Catholic Church that absolved donors of years of purgatory during their spiritual purification after death. It was like the 15th-century equivalent of the “Get Out of Jail, Free” card found in 20th-century Monopoly games. Other art historians believe the document represents business dealings, especially moneylending, which involves interest rates, a terribly sinful business practice for 15th-century Europeans.
Lizard Demon
To the right of the bat demon is a lizard-like demon. Its face cannot be seen, but its long, scaly tail and hind legs are visible under the strongbox. It hides its face from the viewer like a sinful person hides his face from God.
Humanoid Demon
In the foreground is a humanoid demon leaning on the balustrade separating the viewer from the painting’s action. It has a dusky charcoal face with an aquiline nose. It wears a black hooded cape but sprouts white angelic wings. If its face was sweeter-looking, and its hood was white, this figure could have been another angel in the scene. However, its sinister appearance implies it is a fallen angel or a humanoid demon. It leans with intensive thought and encourages the viewer to consider the drama above. This humanoid demon has the air of a bored spectator: indifferent to the fate of the miser’s soul.
Metal Armor
In the right foreground are several pieces of metal armor. There is a sword, shield, helmet, gauntlet, and jousting rod. What is the significance of this knightly armor? Was the miser a knight earlier in his life? Was he possibly a noble who fought in a battle?
There is no universal explanation, as scholars are divided on interpretation. It is undecided whether the armor is implying the miser’s earlier life, or commenting on the miser’s sin by providing a noble contrast. It could also be commenting on the vanity of worldly possessions. Regardless, like many of Bosch’s paintings, this is a mysterious detail that still intrigues viewers today.
Altarpiece
Most Bosch historians believe that Death and the Miser has lost its original context as the left wing of a triptych altarpiece. It is believed that a larger, wider central panel and a similarly thin right panel accompanied this image. Those two missing panels probably included additional context to the miser’s life or the patron’s intentions.
Bosch is not known to have created images outside of commissions. He worked almost exclusively under the patronage of secular intellectuals and religious institutions. Based upon the altar wing-like shape of this painting, it is likely a religious image intended for a Christian-run institution such as a church, monastery, or nunnery, or perhaps an extremely wealthy and pious individual for a large home altar.
Gruesomely Fascinating
Hieronymus Bosch still fascinates audiences after 500 years. His images hold a mirror to the ugliness and complexity of humanity. There are equal parts humor and horror found within his paintings. Viewers are fascinated and repelled but cannot look away. It is too gruesome but too fascinating. Look but don’t look. Death and the Miser is a masterpiece of morbid curiosity.
P.S. If you are a fan of Hieronymus Bosch, you can get his most famous masterpiece, The Garden of Earthly Delights, as a high-quality here.