''The Hermit Saints'' is a religious oil on panel painting displayed as a
triptych, meaning it is one whole painting composed of three separate scenes. This artwork was made by the
Renaissance artist
Hieronymus Bosch, dating from 1493. The entirety of the triptych painting measures . This artwork is currently being housed at the
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.
Saints are a common theme in Bosch's artwork; for him, they are a reference to the living and also to suffering against what was considered sinful. Likewise, there is often the portrayal of brutality and agony that far outweighs the beauty in Bosch's work since he uses saints as a moral paradigm of the artist's time. He represents them as those who are most faithful in their beliefs.
Within this triptych the viewer is introduced to three hermit saints depicted in separate lands of the heavenly and hellish manifestations of mankind's sin and moral obligations. The hermit saints are a reference to the life of solitude and devotion to their faith and practice of the religion
Christianity. Each panel is rich with symbolic imagery that gives insight into the frame of mind of each saint's devotion and empathy towards
Christ through
iconography
Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
and
symbolism.
History
The triptych is mentioned at the Palazzo Ducale in 1771, as hanging in the Eccelso Tribunale Hall. In 1838 it was removed by the Austrian authorities, then ruling Venice, to the Imperial Gallery of
Vienna in
Austria, from which, in 1893, it went to the
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...
. In 1919 it was returned to Venice.
The work has been badly damaged, perhaps by a fire; in particular, in the central part, the sky, the landscape and the head of St. Jerome have been repainted. The date of 1493 has been confirmed by
dendochronological analysis.
Description
The depictions of hell, heaven, and earth in Bosch's artwork showcase the varying stages of existence as the panels move from scenes of heaven to Earth, and finally, shift onwards into Bosch's visions of hell. The left panel in ''The Hermit Saints'' depicts a hierarchal depiction of
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
and each of the hermit saints devotion to
Christ.
In the background of the left panel a church, a well, a bridge, two human figures, and carious trees can be seen silhouetted amongst the glow of fires ominous light. Nearest in the foreground resides the first saint,
St. Anthony Saint Anthony, Antony, or Antonius most often refers to Anthony of Padua, also known as Saint Anthony of Lisbon, the patron saint of lost things. This name may also refer to:
People
* Anthony of Antioch (266–302), Martyr under Diocletian. Feast ...
, an older man who is gathering water in a small vessel as he is surrounded by various creatures of hell, both on land and within the small body of water near the man. To the older man's right stands a tree with a white sheet as two smaller human figures push through the sheet to enter the body of water. Within this triptych Saint Anthony appears secluded, a juxtaposition with Bosch's more chaotic depictions of St. Anthony, like that of the
Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony
The ''Triptych of Temptation of St. Anthony'' is an oil painting on wood panels by the Early Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch, dating from around 1501. The work portrays the mental and spiritual torments endured by Saint Anthony the Great ( ...
. In this painting, the saint appears in agony, surrounded by monstrous figures of hell actively attacking one another. The seclusion of the figure in ''The Hermit Saints'' connects to the devotion exhibited by the other two saints in second and third panels and likewise, contrasting with the chaotic scenes of passion
displayed in the Bosch's ''Temptation of Saint Anthony.''
The middle panel is an Earthly scene with recognizable lifeforms such as deer, birds, and iguanas inhabiting the land. The second saint depicted is
St. Jerome, another older man, who can be seen in the midst of worship, as a small
crucifix stands slanted before him. To the left of the crucifix is a small relief depicting a human figure and a unicorn. The small relief is echoed as another small column depicts a celestial scene with a human figure bent down on their knees, gazing up to a distinctly separate scene of the sun and the moon. In the entirety of this panel, the faith St. Jerome has for Christ is symbolized by the physical space of the vastness of the land. The focal point of St. Jerome showcases the pain and suffering of Christ,
allowing St. Jerome to contemplate and empathize with Christ's experiences with suffering in life.
The third panel portrays third saint, who appears to be
St. Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
, who remains dwelling in a cave, deep in prayer with an arrow lodged in his chest, a deer by his feet, and a face peering out of the darkness of the cave.
Iconography
Each of the three panels portrays a different Christian
anchorite
In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are ...
saint.
Saint Anthony
The left panel portrays
St. Anthony the Abbot
Anthony the Great ( grc-gre, Ἀντώνιος ''Antṓnios''; ar, القديس أنطونيوس الكبير; la, Antonius; ; c. 12 January 251 – 17 January 356), was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is d ...
in a nocturnal landscape. The village in fire is perhaps an allegory of the
ergotism
Ergotism (pron. ) is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, traditionally due to the ingestion of the alkaloids produced by the ''Claviceps purpurea'' fungus—from the Latin "club" or clavus "nail" and for "head", i.e. the purple club-head ...
plague, or of the saint's alleged capability to quench fires. The saint is collecting the marshy water of a pool with a jar, surrounded by demonic visions such as the naked woman appearing behind a tent in company of several devils. Under her, a devil-fish is pouring wine from a jar, while around it are deformed crickets portrayed in grotesque postures: one is reading a
missal
A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a pries ...
, one has a prolonged beak and a peacock tail, while another is composed by a nun head with feet, which carries a
little owl
The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at ...
and its nest above.
The inclusion of Saint Anthony functions as a moral compass for those within Catholic communities; Saint Anthony represents the action of resisting humanly temptation. Born in Egypt, Saint Anthony was raised within a Christian environment and did not pursue education in his youth. Saint Anthony preferred a life of solitude in his home as well as in his attendance of Church; earlier on in his youth Saint Anthony showed a profound appreciation for his faith.
With the death of Saint Anthony's parents in his young adult life, he entered a state of reflection on his walk to church one day and felt he must live an ascetic way of life.
Through manual labor Saint Anthony gains the admiration of many, including men who seek him out to obtain his ascetic lifestyle.
Saint Jerome
In the center is
Saint Jerome, kneeling in the desert and praying at a
crucifix on a stick. The setting is an altar resembling a sculpted Roman
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
, located within a ruined
oratory. The reliefs depicts scenes connected to the redemption theme, such as ''
Judith and Holophernes
The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonical ''Book of Judith'', and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautiful widow, is ab ...
'' (symbolizing the victory of the soul, or Mary killing the devil), a knight and a
unicorn, symbol of virginity. In the lower part is a man diving into a beehive and covering himself with honey, perhaps an allusion to carnal love or to
alchemic
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
. This detail is depicted in a drawing housed in the
Albertina in Vienna. All around are symbols of
evil, scattered in a desert and dark landscape and surrounded by a sinister vegetation. They include, at left, a column with an
idolater adoring the atmospheric phenomena, skeletons, monstrous animals fighting each other and dried bush. At right are instead Jerome's traditional symbols, the red
cardinal's hat
A (plural: ; from la, galērum, originally connotating a helmet made of skins; cf. '' galea'') is a broad-brimmed hat with tasselated strings which was worn by clergy in the Catholic Church. Over the centuries, the red ''galero'' was restric ...
and the lion, identifiable with the bony animal drinking at the pool.
The rise of imagery of Saint Jerome was significant within the Catholic art community, specifically for Dutch Catholic artists.
The hermit saints are a reference to the navigation of devotion and virtue within a solitary way of life. Saint Jerome imposed a vision of philosophical devotion and intellect, Saint Jerome's studies allowed him to travel through Rome, Trier, and finally Chalcis, a desert surrounding Antioch.
The studies of Saint Jerome included Greek and Hebrew and upon his return to Rome, his language efforts allowed him to adapt the Latin Gospels for
Pope Damasus I. Later, Saint Jerome translated texts from the Hebrew Bible into Latin
and he became recognized within Catholic communities for his scholarly efforts and thus celebrated for these efforts.
Saint Giles
The right panel shows
Saint Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
, who is praying in a grotto; this houses a roll which, according to the
Golden Legend, contained all the names of those to be saved thanks to his intercession. The saint has been shot by an arrow, originally destined for the fawn at his feet. The landscape, the less dark of the triptych, is dominated by a sharp rock.
Known as a “Patron of Beggars” and a “Patron Saint of Cripples”, the imagery of Saint Giles provides something of hope for miracles most notable to those in physical need. From early life, he was known for the display of his appreciation and ambition for life.
Originally from Greece, his parentage may have been that of royalty.
Saint Giles received a superior education in contrast to that of Saint Anthony and Saint Jerome.
After the death of his parents, Saint Giles gave many of his earthly belongings to people within poor communities as a means of proving is holiness.
His was famous for healing those with disabilities.
Painting materials
The scientists at The Bosch Research and Conservation Project investigated all the technical aspects of this triptych. Bosch employed the usual
pigments of the Renaissance period, such as
azurite,
lead-tin-yellow,
vermilion and
ochres
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
omitting the expensive natural
ultramarine.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
External links
''Hermit Saints'' Triptychat The Bosch Research and Conservation Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermit Saints
1490s paintings
Birds in art
Books in art
Deer in art
Food and drink paintings
Paintings by Hieronymus Bosch
Paintings in Venice
Paintings of Jerome
Triptychs