''The Last Judgment'' is a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

by the Early Netherlandish artist

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

, created after 1482. The triptych is now in the Academy of Fine Arts in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The outside of the shutters panel are painted in

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; , from ''gris'' 'grey') means in general any European painting that is painted in grey. History Giotto used grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua () and Robert Campin, Jan van Ey ...

on panel, while the inside shutters and the center panel are painted in oil. The left and right panels measure 167.7 x 60 cm and the center panel measures 164 x 127 cm. It is not to be confused with either a fragmented piece of art by Bosch under the same title (now at

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

), or another full painting by Bosch, possibly by a painter in his workshop. The left panel shows the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...

: at the top God is shown seated in Heaven, while the Rebel Angels are cast out of Heaven and transformed into insects. At the foot of the panel, God creates

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

from the rib of

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

. In the mid-ground Eve is tempted by the Serpent. Towards the center of the panel, Adam and Eve are chased by the Angel into the dark forest. In the central panel, Jesus judges the souls while surrounded by the Saints. The right panel shows a hellscape, where the wicked are punished.

Provenance

The oldest mention of the painting is in a 1659 inventory of

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts. He held a number of military commands, with limited success, a ...

's collection, as by "Hieronimo Bosz". In the late 18th century, the work was acquired by count Lambert-Sprinzenstein, from whom it later went to the current location. In the 17th-18th centuries, the triptych has been widely repainted and has lost part of the colors. Some art historians identified this work as that acquired by

Philip I of Castile Philip the Handsome (22 June/July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a bri ...

in 1504, while others deny this. Dendrochronologic analysis proved that the painting was executed not before 1482 There is copy of the work, attributed to

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...

, in the Gemäldegalerie of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Description

The painting's composition has similarities with the '' Haywain Triptych'' or ''

The Garden of Earthly Delights ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' () is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panels painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was between 40 and 60 years old. Bos ...

'': both also show the Garden of Eden in the left panel and the Hell at right. The central panel depicts a

Last Judgement The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

, in a more obscure atmosphere than the Hell one.

Shutters

Like in other contemporary

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

triptychs, the shutters are externally painted in

, depicting two saints. At left is St. James in pilgrimage within a wicked land with a hanged man (perhaps a reference to some episode in the

Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' ( or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of 153 hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in Europe during the Late Middle Ages. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary Maddo ...

); at right is instead St. Bavo, the patron of Flanders, donating to the poor with his hawk on his left wrist. One of the characters in the latter panel, the old woman with a child, appears in a drawing attributed to Bosch, now in a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

private collection. Bosch Last Judgement Detail

Left panel

The left panel depicts the

of biblical history, as a green landscape in the lower three-quarters. In the upper section Bosch portrays God sitting on his throne, surrounded by a luminous halo. Around him is a cloudy sky, with angels fighting rebellious angels who are turning into devils as they fall. Below are, reading from the bottom, God creating Eve from Adam's rib, with Adam sleeping at her feet; the Serpent tempting Eve and the

tree of the knowledge of good and evil In Christianity and Judaism, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (, ; ) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2–3, along with the tree of life. Alternatively, some scholars have argued that the tre ...

; and, finally, Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden by an angel, who holds a sword, into a dark forest.

Central panel

The central painting depicts a

, based on John's

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

. Above is Christ as a judge, surrounded by the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

and the apostles. The celestial zone, painted in a bright blue, contrasts with the rest of the panel, which is occupied by a dark brownish punishment of the Damned, while the Blessed occupy only a small portion. The punishments come from monstrous creatures of Hell: the damned are burned, speared, impaled, hung from butcher hooks, forced to eat impure food (the Gluttonous), or subjects to cogs of bizarre machines. This scene has strong similarities with the right panel in Bosch's ''Garden'' at the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

Right panel

Thematically, the hell at right is not different from the Last Judgement.

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

, in the center, receives the damned souls. The torture scenes continue in this panel, within a dark landscape dominated by flames and devilish figures.

Notes

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Judgment 1482 paintings Paintings by Hieronymus Bosch Triptychs Paintings in the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna Paintings of Adam and Eve Paintings of Jesus Paintings of the Virgin Mary Angels in art Musical instruments in art The Last Judgement in art Demons in art God the Father in art Philip I of Castile