by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on November 4, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
A performer raises a small ball between his fingers. Across a table, a spectator bends forward to inspect the trick, while someone behind reaches for the spectator’s purse. The Conjuror makes two kinds of deception visible at once: the entertainment everyone has come to watch and the theft that their attention allows. Its most important action takes place away from the hand that seems to command the picture.
The familiar painting belongs to Saint-Germain-en-Laye’s municipal collection, now known as the Musée Ducastel-Vera. It is a work by an anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch, rather than a securely autograph Bosch painting. The city’s 2016 exhibition caption dated it probably after 1525; the Bosch Research and Conservation Project’s technical report favours around 1530–1540. The subject has a longer history than this surviving panel, with related drawings, painted versions and an engraving connecting it to Bosch’s inventions.[1][2]
At a Glance
- TitleThe Conjuror; The Conjurer; L’Escamoteur
- MakerAnonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch
- DateProbably after 1525; around 1530–1540 in the BRCP technical report
- MediumOil on oak panel
- Size53.6 × 65.3 cm
- CollectionMusée Ducastel-Vera, Saint-Germain-en-Laye
- Inventory872.1.87
- SubjectA conjuring performance and the theft of a spectator’s purse
Compare these works across Bosch’s career
These date ranges are estimates, not a documented year-by-year sequence. These works provide context for the article; none is highlighted as the object discussed here.
Saint Jerome at Prayer
Circa 1485–1495 [3]Crucifixion with a Donor
Circa 1490–1500 (BRCP) [3]Hermit Saints Triptych
Circa 1495–1505 [3]Saint Liberata Triptych
Circa 1495–1505 [3]The Hearing Forest and the Seeing Field
Circa 1500–1505 (Berlin exhibition) [4]The Haywain Triptych
1510–1516 (BRCP) [3]Contents
Annotated Details from The Conjurer: Saint-Germain Version
The performance and theft occupy different parts of the same small scene. These views help trace the directions of attention.
Details from THE CONJURER: SAINT-GERMAIN VERSION
The Saint-Germain version has a disputed attribution, examined in the article. These details identify the version without assigning a named painter.
The theft in the crowd
A hand reaches towards the bent spectator’s purse while the surrounding faces turn towards the performance. The theft takes place close to the very person whose attention is elsewhere.
The performer and table
The performer holds one hand up beside the table. Cups and small objects organise the space between him and the leaning spectator.
The performer’s basket
A small animal peers from the basket hanging at the performer’s waist. The detail sits below the raised hand that draws the crowd’s attention.
Image and detail crops: Wikimedia Commons source file (public domain reproduction).
The Hand That Attracts Attention
The conjuror stands alone on the right, wearing a long red garment and a tall black hat. His upright body contrasts with the tightly gathered audience opposite him. Between them, the table creates a clear division, but the lifted hand carries the performance across it. The small pale object held between his fingers is easy to miss in a reduced reproduction. The faces directed towards it tell us how much attention it receives within the scene.
His other hand rests near the basket suspended at his waist. This lower gesture balances the raised one without competing with it. The costume, hat and basket make his outline unusually distinct against the wall. He occupies enough empty space to be read as an individual performer, while the spectators overlap and partly conceal one another. The painter gives him command of the setting through placement as much as through his trick.
The table reinforces that authority. Its upper surface is tilted towards the viewer, displaying cups, small objects and a narrow implement rather than concealing them behind the front edge. We are invited to examine the apparatus almost as closely as the audience. Yet greater access to the table does not explain the trick. The picture gives us an arrangement of props and gestures, leaving the actual sequence of the performance unstated.
The Spectator Who Bends Too Far
The most conspicuous spectator leans so far forward that the body seems to turn a corner. The back stretches towards the table, the head projects above its surface, and the long garment hangs down beside the child. A pale headdress sharply frames the face. This posture gives concentration a physical shape: the spectator has surrendered an upright stance in order to get closer to the spectacle.
That movement also exposes the purse. The figure behind keeps the head turned upwards while a hand works lower down. Face and hand seem to belong to different activities. The upward gaze performs innocence, directing attention away from the theft, while the reaching gesture reveals it to the viewer. The thief’s averted gaze is therefore as expressive as the victim’s intense involvement.
The picture makes us compare what people look at with what their bodies do. Watching is not distributed evenly across the crowd. Some faces point towards the performer, others towards the bent figure or an adjacent spectator. The thief introduces the most consequential mismatch, but the whole group contains variations of attention. A single performance gathers these people without giving them a single understanding of the event.
The Child and the Crowd
A child in red occupies the narrow space beside the bending spectator. The small figure’s lifted face is close to the adult’s head, giving the episode a second observer at a different height. A toy windmill adds another miniature mechanism to a scene already organised around objects that attract the eye. Elina Gertsman discusses the child’s attention as part of the painting’s relationship with proverbial foolishness.[5]
The child’s position makes the adult’s awkward posture more conspicuous. The long curve of the back seems still larger beside the small body below it. At the same time, the child breaks up what might otherwise be a solid mass of falling cloth. Scale becomes a way of directing the viewer through the group: from the spectator’s face, down towards the child, and across the table to the performer.
Behind them, different head coverings and expressions distinguish the people who have stopped to watch. Their packed arrangement contrasts with the conjuror’s isolated silhouette. Although their clothes may suggest different social roles, they do not provide names or complete biographies. The crowd is most immediately convincing as an assortment of responses: curiosity, absorption, amusement and the possibility of shared misunderstanding.
Animals Among the Props
An owl peers from the basket at the performer’s waist. Its head is a small, rounded interruption in the woven container, close enough to the conjuror’s hand to connect animal and apparatus. Below, a little dog sits near a hoop leaning against the table. Their proximity suggests another possible part of the entertainment without showing a completed action. The dog is present and expectant; the hoop remains unused at this instant.
The owl is particularly effective because it also looks. A picture concerned with the difference between observing and understanding gives an animal its own small face at the centre of the performer’s equipment. That placement is visually suggestive even before a symbolic explanation is proposed. It creates a second gaze on the right-hand side, below the conjuror’s controlled expression and lifted hand.
A frog appears on the tabletop, with another small form at the bending spectator’s mouth. The BRCP catalogue reads the mouth detail as a frog and proposes that the spectator might be assisting with the illusion, only to be robbed in turn.[6] That possibility complicates a simple division between innocent audience and dishonest performer. It should remain a proposal: the painting does not supply an accompanying explanation that identifies every participant’s role.
Why the Wall Matters
A high wall blocks most of the background. A narrow strip of sky survives above it, while a damaged structure occupies the upper left. There is no extensive landscape in which the eye can escape the performance. The setting presses the figures forwards, giving the gestures, faces and objects unusual importance. Its relative plainness makes the small ball and reaching hand more consequential than they would be in a crowded panoramic scene.
The wall is not wholly inactive. Plants interrupt its upper edge, and a round opening in the ruin contains a bird’s nest. The BRCP’s infrared comparison reveals an abraded smaller bird attending a much larger chick, interpreted as a cuckoo in another bird’s nest.[6] The detail offers a second image of misplaced trust, although it is much less readily legible than the purse theft in an ordinary reproduction.
These two scales reward different kinds of looking. The main episode can be understood across a room: performer, table, bent spectator, thief. The nest needs closer inspection and, in its present condition, technical documentation. The painting therefore changes as one moves from the obvious action towards its damaged margins. Not every difficult mark is an intentional mystery; some difficulty comes from abrasion and the history of the paint.
A Follower’s Painting and an Earlier Invention
The distinction between Bosch’s invention and this panel’s execution is central to its attribution. In 2016, the Prado exhibited the Saint-Germain painting as a follower’s work, while the owning city likewise described a follower using a lost prototype.[1][7] Those assessments allow the composition to remain closely associated with Bosch without requiring that the surviving paint was applied by his hand. A municipal display notice in 2025 used the broader description of an anonymous artist in Bosch’s circle and an early-sixteenth-century date. The technical report’s narrower 1530–1540 proposal should therefore remain an attributed judgement, rather than an exact year agreed by every museum statement.[8]
A named candidate has also appeared in the literature. Daniela Heinze’s scholarly reference entry on purses lists the painting under Bosch or Gielis Panhedel, citing the 2002 Saint-Germain exhibition catalogue.[9] That records an attribution alternative, not a demonstrated identity. The museum’s later anonymous designation is the more appropriate starting point here. A possible name should not become the public author simply through repetition.
The painting’s directness once helped support an early date within Bosch’s career. Yet a simple composition can also be a later adaptation, and an apparently archaic style does not establish an early year. Reproductions labelled 1475–1480 should consequently be approached with care. Gertsman’s 2004 article still uses an early chronology; the subsequent technical assessment supplies a different basis for discussing this particular support and its execution.[2][5]
What the Wood Can Date
Tree-ring research found a youngest surviving heartwood ring of 1485. That is not a felling date, because outer rings were lost when the timber was prepared. The technical study adds allowances for missing sapwood and for drying and transport, arriving at painting possible from 1496 and statistically more probable from 1498. Those are earliest-use estimates, not proof that the picture was painted in either year.[2]
The frame evidence points later. Paint edges indicate work in a temporary frame followed by transfer to a rebated frame; the report associates that method with production after about 1525 and proposes around 1530–1540. Its infrared examination also found broad preparatory contours closely followed in paint, supporting the interpretation of a copied composition. Small shifts to the dog and tabletop objects show adjustment within that process.[2]
The two arguments answer different questions. Timber analysis limits when a support could have become available. Construction and handling can inform a judgement about when and how it was used. Combining them does not turn every estimate into a precise date, but it explains why an old piece of oak can carry a painting made considerably later than the tree’s last surviving ring.
The Louvre Drawing
A related pen drawing in the Louvre, INV 19197 recto, opens the scene out. Alongside the performer and audience are additional figures and equipment; two foreground spectators provide another position from which to watch. Its composition makes looking itself part of the subject. We follow observers who are watching an audience, rather than confronting only the central exchange across the table.
The Louvre currently places Bosch’s name at the head of its record, while also recording Fritz Koreny’s attribution to a follower. The BRCP catalogue accepts the front as Bosch and distinguishes it from the comic concert and other studies added to the reverse by a later hand.[10][6] Those differences should remain visible when the drawing is used to explain the painting. A shared subject is not a substitute for an agreed attribution of every mark on the paper.
The drawing and panel also distribute the theft differently. In the catalogue’s comparison, the Louvre victim is a young woman within the audience rather than the conspicuously bending figure of the painting.[6] That change affects the structure of the deception. It cautions against presenting the drawing as a complete, unchanged plan transferred directly onto the Saint-Germain oak.
A Faint Sketch in Liège
A second drawing, in Liège’s Album d’Arenberg, no. 534, carries a faint conjuror sketch on the reverse. The BRCP attributes that sketch to Bosch while assigning the more elaborate Christ Carrying the Cross and beggar scenes on the other face to a follower. It also records Koreny’s different view that the conjuror was itself a follower’s work.[6]
The little sketch contributes to a history of the idea without resolving every disputed hand. Its speed and slightness differ markedly from the Saint-Germain painting’s finished colour and enclosed setting. Together, the drawings suggest that the subject could be varied through different arrangements of performer, assistant, spectators and theft. They do not allow a lost original painting to be reconstructed with certainty.
The Engraving and Its Warning
An engraving by Balthazar van den Bos gives the scene another form. The Rijksmuseum’s impression, RP-P-1892-A-17506, measures 244 × 323 mm and credits Bosch as the source of the invention. Its record describes both a thief and an accomplice preparing to carry off the money, while Dutch inscriptions warn against empty distractions. The museum dates it broadly within 1528–1580; the BRCP discusses the print around the middle of the century.[11][6]
The engraving makes the warning available in words as well as actions. Its closely worked lines also give the costumes, wall and table a different texture from the painting’s flatter colour areas. It belongs to the subject’s circulation through print, rather than serving as an autograph signature on the Saint-Germain panel. Bosch being named as inventor and Bosch painting a particular surviving object are different claims.
Another Painting in Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art owns a separate Conjurer, W1914-1-2, catalogued as a sixteenth-century copy after Bosch. At 105.4 × 138.7 cm, it is substantially larger than the Saint-Germain panel. It entered the collection through the W. P. Wilstach Fund in 1914.[12] The dimensions and inventory make it possible to keep the two paintings distinct even when reproductions circulate under almost identical titles.
The existence of versions does not establish a simple family tree. A later painter could enlarge, simplify or supplement an inherited arrangement, and surviving copies may preserve different parts of its history. A larger scene is not automatically the original, just as a compact one is not automatically an early sketch. Each object needs its own attribution and material evidence before claims about priority can be made.
Religious Parody and the Limits of Interpretation
Gertsman interprets the composition through the possibility of religious parody. She compares the isolated performer facing a crowd with devotional woodcuts of preaching, healing and exorcism, then considers how appearances can support contradictory judgements of the conjuror. Her argument moves beyond a straightforward illustration of a proverb towards a picture that repeatedly unsettles the viewer’s interpretation.[5]
That is a useful question to bring to the gestures, but it does not identify an actual pope, inquisitor or heretic in the crowd. Nor does a resemblance between a raised hand and a blessing establish a documented commission against a particular institution. The visible theft is much more secure than a complete reconstruction of the artist’s theological programme. The subject can sustain moral and religious discussion while its original patron and exact intended argument remain unknown.
The painting’s achievement is to make that discussion depend on looking. We can recognise the purse theft and still be drawn back to the displayed ball. We can suspect cooperation without proving who belongs to the scheme. The viewer has a wider field of awareness than most of the painted spectators, but the image offers no guarantee that noticing one deception means understanding the whole event.
Ducastel’s Bequest and the Painting’s Later Life
The panel was visible in Louis-Alexandre Ducastel’s collection by 1850 and reached the municipal museum through his 1872 bequest. The city’s account records its earlier attribution to Lucas van Leyden and Henri Hymans’s publication of it as Bosch in 1893. It also describes a possible earlier collection history through Huttin and Reimer, but presents that connection cautiously; it is not an established continuous provenance.[1]
The painting was stolen on 13 December 1978 and recovered on 2 February 1979. Its later public appearances have included exceptional exhibitions, among them the city’s 2016 display.[1] That history adds a striking episode to the reception of a picture already concerned with theft, but it should not replace the work itself with a modern anecdote. The raised hand, diverted gaze and vulnerable purse remain the reason to return to it.
The Conjuror survives as a particular follower’s painting and as one member of a larger family of images. Its damaged bird detail, copied contours, disputed drawings and changing attributions all qualify an apparently simple scene. At the centre, however, its visual economy remains exact: attention moves towards a performance while value moves quietly in another direction.
Artworks and related attributions
Browse paintings, drawings and related attributions. Records group triptychs, fragments and two-sided sheets where appropriate. Dates follow the cited museum records or catalogue headings and are generally estimates. Rows marked “2016 catalogue” report that publication’s attribution and collection information; these are dated opinions, rather than a claim that every work is an accepted autograph Bosch.
| Name | Date | Medium, attribution and collection |
|---|---|---|
| A Crossbowman | Second half of the sixteenth century | Oil on oak panel · Copy after Hieronymus Bosch · Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid · P002695 Source 1. Source 2. |
| A Woman Spinning and an Old Woman | Museum estimates: about 1480–1490 for the women and 1500–1505 for the reverse; the precise chronology is disputed | Pen and brown and grey ink on the front; pen and brown ink on the reverse · Hieronymus Bosch · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · N 190 recto and verso (PK) Source 1. Source 2. |
| Adoration of the Child in Cologne | Second half of the sixteenth century | Oil on oak panel · Imitator of Hieronymus Bosch, in the city collection record · Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne · WRM 0474 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Adoration of the Magi in Philadelphia | Early sixteenth century in the museum record; around 1495–1520 in the BRCP catalogue | Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch in the museum record; workshop of Bosch in the 2016 BRCP catalogue · Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection, 1917 · 1321; museum object 103592 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Adoration of the Magi — New York | c.1470–1480 | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Metropolitan Museum 13.26 2016 catalogue. |
| Adoration of the Magi — Prado triptych | c.1494 | Oil on oak; grisaille exterior · Bosch · Prado P002048 Object source. |
| Adoration of the Magi — three associated fragments | c.1515–1535 | 2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch · Two Shepherds / Retinue in Philadelphia; associated Adoration in private collection in 2016 2016 catalogue. |
| Ascent of the Blessed — Venice | c.1505–1515 | Oil on panel · Bosch · Gallerie dell’Accademia; Visions of the Hereafter Object source. |
| Battle of the Birds and Mammals | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink · Berlin KdZ 14715 2016 catalogue. |
| Beggars and Musicians | Around 1530–1540 | Ink and wash on paper · Unknown follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Albertina, Vienna · 7798 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Christ Carrying the Cross Drawing | Around 1470 in the museum catalogue | Black chalk or charcoal, pen and brush in brown ink, white corrections · Anonymous, workshop of Rogier van der Weyden · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · N 81 recto and verso (PK) Source 1. Source 2. |
| Christ Carrying the Cross in Vienna | Around 1490–1510 in the current KHM record and BRCP catalogue | Oil on oak, painted on both sides · Hieronymus Bosch; possible workshop involvement in the Passion side discussed by the BRCP · Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna · Gemäldegalerie, GG 6429 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Christ Carrying the Cross — El Escorial | c.1495–1505 | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Patrimonio Nacional 10014739 2016 catalogue. |
| Christ Carrying the Cross — Ghent | c.1510–1516 (museum) | Oil on panel · Bosch in museum listing; authorship disputed · MSK Ghent 1902-H Object source. |
| Christ Mocked — London | c.1510 | Oil on wood · Bosch · National Gallery NG4744 Object source. |
| Concert in the Egg, After Hieronymus Bosch | Around 1561; third quarter of the sixteenth century | Oil on canvas · Anonymous, after Hieronymus Bosch · Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille · P 816 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Conjurer / Comical Concert — Louvre drawing | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch (recto), follower (concert verso) · Pen and brown ink · Louvre INV 19197 2016 catalogue. |
| Conjurer / Cross-bearing and beggars — Liège sheet | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch (verso), follower (recto) · Pen and brown ink · Album d’Arenberg 534 2016 catalogue. |
| Crowning with Thorns — El Escorial | c.1530–1540 | 2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch; oil on oak · Patrimonio Nacional 10014743 2016 catalogue. |
| Crucifixion with a Donor | Circa 1495–1505; Circa 1490–1500 | Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch · Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels · 6639 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Death and the Miser Drawing | Not securely established; probably made after the painting | Pen and brush, dark ink and white highlights on prepared paper · Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch in the BRCP catalogue; alternatives recorded by the Louvre · Musée du Louvre, Department of Prints and Drawings, Paris · RF 6947, Recto Source 1. Source 2. |
| Death and the Miser — Washington | c.1485/1490 (NGA) | Oil on panel · Bosch · National Gallery of Art 1952.5.33 Object source. |
| Ecce Homo Triptych — Boston | c.1495–1500; wings c.1500/1503 | 2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch; oil on oak · Museum of Fine Arts Boston; several production phases 2016 catalogue. |
| Ecce Homo — Frankfurt | c.1490 | Mixed technique on oak · Bosch · Städel 1577 Object source. |
| Fall of the Damned — Venice | c.1505–1515 | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on panel · Visions of the Hereafter · Venice 2016 catalogue. |
| Garden of Earthly Delights | 1490–1500 (Prado) | Oil on oak; grisaille exterior · Bosch · Prado; triptych Object source. |
| Gluttony and Lust / Allegory of Intemperance — Yale fragment | c.1500–1510 (group dating) | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Yale 1959.15.22; fragment associated with Ship of Fools 2016 catalogue. |
| Group of Ten Spectators, a Follower of Bosch | Around 1510–1540 in the current museum record | Pen and two brown inks on paper, with a brown framing line · Follower of Hieronymus Bosch in the Morgan record; Bosch in the BRCP catalogue · Morgan Library & Museum, New York · I, 112 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Head of an Old Woman | About 1500 | Oil on panel · Attributed to Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · 2439 (OK) Source 1. Source 2. |
| Hell and the Flood — Rotterdam panels | Around 1515 in the museum records; around 1510–1520 in the BRCP catalogue | Oil on oak panels · Jheronimus Bosch in the museum records; workshop of Bosch in the BRCP catalogue · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Source 1. Source 2. |
| Hermit Saints Triptych | Circa 1495–1505 | Oil on oak panels · Hieronymus Bosch · Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice · 2044 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Infernal Landscape | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink, red accent · Private collection in 2016 2016 catalogue. |
| Infernal Scene with Anvil / Monster Studies | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; attribution debated in entry · Pen and brown ink · Berlin KdZ 548 2016 catalogue. |
| Infernal Scene with Tree-Man / Standing Man | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch; pen and brown ink · Dresden C 1875; historical reverse title includes a proposed prophet 2016 catalogue. |
| Job Triptych — Bruges | c.1510–1520 | 2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch; oil on oak · Groeningemuseum / Hoeke loan in 2016 2016 catalogue. |
| Last Judgement — Bruges triptych | c.1495–1505 | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Groeningemuseum 2016 catalogue. |
| Last Judgement — Munich fragment | c.1530–1540 | 2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch; oil on oak · Alte Pinakothek 5752 2016 catalogue. |
| Last Judgement — Vienna triptych | c.1500–1505 (BRCP 2016) | Oil on oak · Bosch and workshop (BRCP 2016) · Academy of Fine Arts Vienna 2016 catalogue. |
| Man in a Basket and Comic Figures | Around 1500–1515 in the museum record | Pen and brown ink on paper; the reverse is catalogued as iron-gall ink · Hieronymus Bosch in the current Albertina record; attribution has been debated · Albertina, Vienna · 7797 recto and verso Source 1. Source 2. |
| Man Seen from Behind | About 1550–1569; About 1565–1570 | Traces of black chalk, pen and brush in light brown ink · Anonymous, circle of Pieter Bruegel the Elder · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Source 1. Source 2. |
| Mary and John at the Foot of the Cross | About 1440 | Brush in grey and black · Unknown, possibly Netherlandish · Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden · C 815 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Model Sheet with ‘Witches’ | Disputed; proposals depend on the attribution | Pen and brown ink; the BRCP also records underlying black chalk · Hieronymus Bosch; follower attributions also recorded · Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris · INV 19721 recto Source 1. Source 2. |
| Peasant and Three Bust-Length Figures | 1401–1500 | Brown pen over a black preliminary drawing · Attributed to the Master of the Drapery Studies; Bosch circle also recorded · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 777 Source 1. Source 2. |
| River to Hell — Venice | c.1505–1515 | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on panel · Visions of the Hereafter · Venice 2016 catalogue. |
| Saint Anthony and a Concert in an Egg | Around 1510–1525 in the museum’s 2016–17 exhibition texts | Pen in light and dark brown inks · Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch; underlying monsters: Bosch (BRCP), possibly Bosch (exhibition text) · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 711 recto and verso Source 1. Source 2. |
| Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child | c.1500; 1490–1505 in restoration material | Oil on panel · Bosch · Boijmans St 26 Object source. |
| Saint James and Hermogenes | About 1551–1575 in the KIK-IRPA catalogue | Oil on wood, painted on both sides · Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes · P.46.1.44; older number 176 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Saint Jerome at Prayer | Circa 1485–1495 | Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch · Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent · 1908-H Source 1. Source 2. |
| Saint John on Patmos / Passion Scenes | c.1495–1505; estimates vary | Oil on oak · Bosch · Gemäldegalerie Berlin 1647A Object source. |
| Saint John the Baptist in Meditation | Late 15th century; c.1485–1510 (Prado exhibition) | Oil on panel · Bosch · Lázaro Galdiano 8155 Object source. |
| Saint Liberata Triptych | Circa 1495–1505 | Oil on oak panels · Hieronymus Bosch · Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice · 2045 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things | 1505–1510 (Prado) | Oil on poplar · Bosch (Prado); workshop/follower disputed · Prado Object source. |
| Ship of Fools — Louvre painting | 1475–1500 (record); c.1505–1515 (exhibition) | Oil on oak · Bosch · Louvre RF 2218; fragment Object source. |
| Ship of Fools — Louvre workshop drawing | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch · Pen, brush, grey-brown ink and white highlights on prepared paper · Louvre RF 3714 2016 catalogue. |
| Studies of Monsters | About 1530–1550, according to the current Ashmolean record | Pen and brown ink on laid paper, both faces · Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford · WA1863.155 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Studies of Saint Anthony and Monsters | No execution date specified in the current Louvre records | Pen and brown ink on paper · Bosch listed; reverse questioned by Louvre; BRCP accepts both faces · Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris · INV 20871 recto and verso Source 1. Source 2. |
| Temptation of Saint Anthony — Kansas City fragment | c.1500–1510 | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Nelson-Atkins 35–22 2016 catalogue. |
| Temptation of Saint Anthony — Lisbon triptych | c.1500 | Oil on oak · Bosch · Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga 1498 Pint Museum. |
| Temptation of Saint Anthony — Prado panel | c.1530–1540 | 2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch (2016 opinion); oil on oak · Prado P002049 2016 catalogue. |
| Terrestrial Paradise | Approximately 1505–1515 | Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch · Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice Source 1. Source 2. |
| The Burning Ship Drawing | 1500–1520 | Pen and iron gall ink on paper · Attributed to Hieronymus Bosch · Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Graphic Collection · HZ-2554; numbered 2554 in the BRCP catalogue Source 1. Source 2. |
| The Comical Barber Scene | About 1550–1580, according to the British Museum | Pen and brown ink, grey and brown wash, over black chalk · Anonymous follower, after Hieronymus Bosch · British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London · 1854,0628.46 Source 1. Source 2. |
| The Conjuror, After Hieronymus Bosch | Probably after 1525; around 1530–1540 in the BRCP technical report | Oil on oak panel · Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Musée Ducastel-Vera, Saint-Germain-en-Laye · 872.1.87 Source 1. Source 2. |
| The Cure of Folly / Extraction of the Stone of Madness | 1501–1505 (Prado) | Oil on oak · Bosch (Prado); workshop/follower disputed · Prado P002056 Object source. |
| The Entombment Drawing | About 1505–1515, current museum record | Brush and black and grey ink, with grey wash, over black chalk · Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch; drawn by the Master of the Prado Haywain Triptych; Hieronymus Bosch, argued by the BRCP in 2016 · British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London · 1952,0405.9 Source 1. Source 2. |
| The Gathering of the Birds | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink · Berlin KdZ 13136 2016 catalogue. |
| The Haywain — Prado triptych | 1510–1516 (BRCP 2016) | Oil on oak · Bosch (BRCP 2016) · Prado; separate Escorial version exists 2016 catalogue. |
| The Hearing Forest and the Seeing Field | Circa 1500–1505 | Pen and brown ink on paper · Hieronymus Bosch; reverse: Bosch and workshop · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 549, front and reverse Source 1. Source 2. |
| The Owl’s Nest — Rotterdam | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink · Boijmans N 175 2016 catalogue. |
| The Passion Triptych in Valencia | Workshop of Bosch, about 1510–1520; Follower of Bosch; centre about 1530–1540, wings about 1540–1550 | Oil and gold on oak panels · Workshop of Bosch, about 1510–1520; Follower of Bosch; centre about 1530–1540, wings about 1540–1550 · Museu de Belles Arts de València Source 1. Source 2. |
| The Pedlar / Wayfarer — Rotterdam | c.1500 (museum) | Oil on panel · Bosch · Boijmans 1079 (OK); rejoined exterior Object source. |
| The Tree-Man — Vienna drawing | c.1505 | Pen and brown ink · Bosch · Albertina, Vienna Object source. |
| The Wedding at Cana, After Hieronymus Bosch | Approximately 1560 in the current museum record | Oil on panel, 93 cm high × 72 cm wide · Anonymous, after Hieronymus Bosch · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, St 25 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Two Fantastical Creatures — Berlin KdZ 550 | Around 1505–1515 in the museum’s 2016 exhibition text | Pen in brown ink on reddish prepared laid paper · Hieronymus Bosch · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 550, recto and verso Source 1. Source 2. |
| Two Figures Wearing Mitres | About 1480 | Oil on panel · Anonymous (Boijmans); Bosch circle (RKD) · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · 1177 (OK) Source 1. Source 2. |
| Two Men and the Temptation of Eve | About 1505–1515 in the Prado’s 2016 exhibition guide | Pen and grey-brown ink on paper · Hieronymus Bosch in the 2016 catalogues discussed here · Private collection, as recorded in 2016 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Two Men Fighting | Not specified in the current Louvre record | Pen and brown ink · In the manner of Hieronymus Bosch · Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris · INV 20660 recto; formerly NIII 8896 and MA 8400 Source 1. Source 2. |
| Two Men — Berlin KdZ 5210 | Not specified in catalogue heading | 2016 catalogue: Bosch questioned · Pen, brush, ink, chalk and white highlights · Berlin KdZ 5210; historical title Two Oriental Men 2016 catalogue. |
| Two Monsters — Berlin KdZ 547 | Approximately 1500–1510 in Berlin's 2016 exhibition catalogue; an estimated range | Pen and brown ink on paper · Hieronymus Bosch · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 547, drawn on both sides Source 1. Source 2. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Discussion
Compare the conspicuous trick with the quieter theft, then consider how the subject changes across versions.
Reader Insights
Follow the thief’s face and hand separately. How does that divided attention work?
What do the bent spectator and the small child make you notice about scale and looking?
Compare the performer’s isolated outline with the crowded spectators. Who seems to control the space?
Join the Conversation
Share a detail, comparison or question about The Conjuror, After Hieronymus Bosch below.
References
- Ville de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Tours et détours de L’Escamoteur, exhibition press dossier (2016), complete document, especially the object caption and collection history. View source.
- Bosch Research and Conservation Project, The Conjurer, technical study, catalogue 32, brief research report 87–88, pp. 414–419, complete report. View source.
- BRCP Catalogue Raisonné (2016), object dates in catalogues 1, 2, 8, 15 and 20; catalogue 20 object metadata only for the Haywain comparison. View source
- Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2016 exhibition wall texts, p. 3: approximate date of KdZ 549. View source
- Elina Gertsman, “Illusion and Deception: Construction of a Proverb in Hieronymus Bosch’s The Conjurer,” Athanor 22 (2004), pp. 31–37, complete article. View source.
- Matthijs Ilsink and colleagues, Hieronymus Bosch, Painter and Draughtsman: Catalogue Raisonné (2016), complete entries 32, pp. 460–463; 47, pp. 542–543; and 48, pp. 544–545. View source.
- Museo Nacional del Prado, Bosch centenary exhibition (2016), secular works discussion and entry 42. View source.
- Musée Ducastel-Vera, municipal announcement for the exceptional 2025 display of L’Escamoteur, complete indexed event text; historical display information, not current opening arrangements. View source.
- Daniela Heinze, “Geldbeutel,” RDK Labor (2018), paragraph on theft imagery and note 26; the cited 2002 exhibition catalogue is not the source directly consulted here. View source.
- Musée du Louvre, L’Escamoteur, INV 19197 recto, current object record and attribution commentary. View source.
- Rijksmuseum, Goochelaar, RP-P-1892-A-17506, complete current object record. View source.
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Conjurer (The Prestidigitator), W1914-1-2, current object record and associated museum metadata. View source.
- Splash image, Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch, The Conjuror, probably after 1525, Musée Ducastel-Vera, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 872.1.87. View source.
