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 richly dressed magician sits beneath a canopy while a company of strange creatures approaches his steps. Behind them, in a smaller landscape episode, an angel leads subdued demons towards a red-robed saint. Turn the panel over and the crowded audience gives way to a chapel, an enclosed garden and a reader standing quietly near the door. Both scenes belong to the same painted object in Valenciennes.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts holds the panel as P.46.1.44, with Saint James the Greater and the Magician Hermogenes on one face and An Antonian Priory on the other.[1] The museum’s educational dossier identifies its painter as a follower of Hieronymus Bosch.[2] The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Belgium, KIK-IRPA, likewise records a follower and dates the work to approximately 1551–1575.[3] These qualifications are essential to understanding a painting long circulated under Bosch’s own name.
At a Glance
- Principal sceneSaint James the Greater and the Magician Hermogenes
- Other faceAn Antonian Priory, with Saint Anthony reading
- Attribution followed hereAnonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch
- DateAbout 1551–1575 in the KIK-IRPA catalogue
- MediumOil on wood, painted on both sides
- Dimensions62 × 41.5 cm in the French national collections record
- CollectionMusée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes
- InventoryP.46.1.44; older number 176
- Original arrangementProbably a wing of a triptych
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 [4]Crucifixion with a Donor
Circa 1490–1500 (BRCP) [4]Hermit Saints Triptych
Circa 1495–1505 [4]Saint Liberata Triptych
Circa 1495–1505 [4]The Hearing Forest and the Seeing Field
Circa 1500–1505 (Berlin exhibition) [5]The Haywain Triptych
1510–1516 (BRCP) [4]Contents
- Introduction
- Annotated Details
- The Magician beneath the Canopy
- A Delegation of Demons
- Why James Appears in the Distance
- Landscape as a Route through the Story
- Saint Anthony beside the Chapel
- The Quarrel below the Garden
- Rocks, Roofs and Enclosed Space
- Probably One Wing of a Larger Work
- Following Bosch without Calling the Panel His
Annotated Details from Saint James and Hermogenes: Two Painted Faces
The magician’s audience and the quieter priory scene occupy opposite faces of Valenciennes P.46.1.44. These photographs show each face separately.
Saint James and Hermogenes
Other Face: An Antonian Priory
Details from SAINT JAMES AND HERMOGENES: TWO PAINTED FACES
The museum identifies the painter as a follower of Bosch. Compare the small background narrative with the foreground figures and the other face.
Saint James and Hermogenes
Hermogenes beneath the canopy
The magician sits above pale steps with an open book on his lap. A tall headdress and red garment distinguish his figure from the dark architecture behind.
The creatures approaching the steps
Several brightly coloured creatures approach the raised seat. Curved limbs and trailing forms connect their otherwise different bodies.
James and the angel in the distance
A red-robed saint stands among the trees while a pale angel approaches with smaller creatures. The reduced scale separates this episode from the large foreground audience.
Other Face: An Antonian Priory
The chapel and reader
A dark-robed reader stands near the chapel doorway. A niche figure, the tau-shaped mark and the green roofs articulate the small building.
The figures below the chapel
Three figures occupy the lower ledge. One sits beside a small open book while the other two turn towards each other at the left.
Image and detail crops: Wikimedia Commons source 1; Wikimedia Commons source 2 (public domain reproductions). Photographs by Szilas.
The Magician beneath the Canopy
Hermogenes occupies the right-hand side, where architecture and furnishings create a place of authority. His seat stands above several pale steps. A dark column rises beside him, while a red hanging curves overhead. The narrow vertical structure keeps his figure close to the edge, separated from the landscape by the column’s emphatic boundary.
His clothing gives him a second frame. A red outer garment opens over a darker robe and blue-green sleeves. Gold-coloured ornament concentrates around the shoulders, and a tall, elaborately shaped headdress extends the figure upwards. These details establish display and rank within the picture without securely identifying an actual sitter or a particular community from his costume.
An open book lies across his lap. Its relatively small pale surface interrupts the larger blocks of red and dark cloth. One hand extends beside the body, as though the seated figure were addressing the gathering below. The book, elevated position and gesture make the scene resemble an audience, even though the visitors resist every expectation of an orderly court.
A smaller hooded person stands beside the seat. The face turns out from a dark enclosure beneath the canopy, adding another observer between Hermogenes and the creatures. Above, a winged quadruped balances on a ledge near the hanging. The architecture offers recognisable supports, but the painter repeatedly places something improbable upon them.
A Delegation of Demons
The largest creatures gather below and to the left of the steps. One bends forward beneath a broad head covering, its long outer shape narrowing towards thin legs. Another has a rounded blue-green body, a projecting dark snout and limbs that seem insufficient for its weight. Their different inclinations make the approach feel like a negotiation conducted by bodies unable to stand in quite the same way.
A dark hooded face looks from behind this group. Long curved extensions cross the ground and connect the creatures visually even where their anatomy remains hard to separate. The foreground becomes a tangle of profiles, coverings, tails and implements. Its small details encourage the eye to move slowly, testing which line belongs to which body.
Near the bottom, a creature with a pale, rounded back crouches close to the surface. A sharp implement projects from it, and a long trailing line curves away across the ground. Higher on the steps, another small figure pulls or handles a thin line. These inventions turn the approach to Hermogenes into an accumulation of little actions rather than a single threatening charge.
Colour helps hold the otherwise incompatible forms together. Blue-green, red, gold and black recur between costumes, creatures and furnishings. The palette permits a connection between the magician’s formal appearance and the visitors’ extravagance. His audience occupies the same visual world, despite the great difference between their bodies and his comparatively stable seated form.
Why James Appears in the Distance
The smaller episode at the left changes the balance of power. James stands in a red robe beside the trees, while an angel approaches with figures that appear much less assertive than the foreground company. The French collection commentary identifies this as a later moment in the legend, after the demons have become harmless.[1] Their reduced scale places the result of the confrontation beyond the magician’s immediate audience.
The story comes from the Golden Legend. In William Caxton’s English version, Hermogenes sends his pupil Philetus to oppose James, but Philetus instead accepts the apostle’s teaching. Hermogenes restrains him through enchantment; James provides the means of releasing him. The magician then orders demons to bring both men back bound.[6]
The demons discover that their own power is limited. An angel binds and torments them, and James orders Hermogenes brought before him without injury. Philetus is then told to release the magician. Hermogenes eventually renounces his magical books and becomes a follower of James.[6] This is a medieval saint’s legend, rather than a surviving report of a documented magical encounter.
The narrative explains why commanding demons and overcoming demons belong in the same picture. The foreground gives Hermogenes the visible apparatus of power: throne, canopy, book and attendants. The background shows another authority defeating his commands. Distance becomes a way of including the reversal without dividing the panel into separate framed scenes.
Landscape as a Route through the Story
A path leads between the foreground gathering and the distant figures. Trees partly interrupt the route, while a chapel occupies a raised area at the upper left. Beyond it, bands of green, pale blue and grey carry the eye towards water, hills and distant structures. The narrow panel opens into a setting much larger than the magician’s enclosed corner.
The change of scale requires active looking. A creature near Hermogenes may occupy as much space as the entire distant confrontation. At first, the foreground inventions attract attention through their colour and detail. Following the path then changes the meaning of that spectacle by revealing the saint and angel beyond it.
This arrangement makes the small background figures consequential. They do not merely fill an otherwise empty landscape. Their position allows the painting to distinguish the magician’s apparent command from the outcome of the story. The most elaborately presented person is therefore not necessarily the person with the greatest effective power.
Saint Anthony beside the Chapel
The other face replaces the canopy’s dark verticals with a broad, pale building. Its steep green roof sits beneath a rounded rocky mass, and an enclosed garden extends towards the left. The space immediately around the doorway is relatively open. A dark-robed reader stands beside the entrance, his small figure giving the architecture its scale.
The museum identifies him as Saint Anthony. It also recognises Antonian symbols and an image of the saint above the doorway.[1] In the painting, the little figure placed high on the facade visually echoes the reader below. The building announces its association while the person at its threshold performs a quiet devotional action.
The doorway’s dark opening contrasts with the light wall. A face also appears at a smaller opening further right, creating a second point at which the building seems inhabited. Sloping additions and projecting roof sections complicate the house’s form without turning it into a monumental church. Its modest scale suits the concentrated activity at the entrance.
Anthony’s reading differs from Hermogenes’ relationship with his book. The magician sits above an audience; the saint occupies a comparatively small place beside a doorway. The two books can be compared without assuming that they contain identifiable texts. Their surrounding settings give the act of reading different social and spiritual effects.
The Quarrel below the Garden
Below the chapel, three figures occupy the lower courtyard. Long sticks or supports extend at different angles around them. One person raises an arm; another sits or crouches low; a third, in brighter clothing, faces towards the exchange from the right. The space between them becomes active through these projecting lines.
The collection commentary identifies an itinerant musician quarrelling with two disabled beggars.[1] The supports help define how each person occupies the uneven ground. Low bodies, raised arms and long shafts make the exchange legible despite the figures’ small size.
The disagreement creates a contrast with Anthony’s concentration above. The reader has an enclosed place beside the wall, whereas the others gesture across an open area. Their different positions let quiet attention and disturbed interaction coexist within the same small landscape. The painting does not need to show Anthony intervening for the contrast to remain legible.
Rocks, Roofs and Enclosed Space
The priory scene depends on several layers of ground. A low wall separates the chapel’s immediate surroundings from the foreground, while a large pale rock rises along the right edge. Shrubs occupy the lower right, and another rounded rock dominates the horizon behind the roof. The building feels sheltered, but the view also leaves routes through which the eye can move around it.
The museum’s educational dossier draws attention to successive planes and perspective as means of creating depth.[2] The effect is particularly clear when following the ground from the quarrelling figures towards the doorway, then beyond the roof to the high rock and distant blue landscape. Each level receives its own colour and shape without demanding a complete architectural plan.
The broad rock surfaces also slow the pace of looking. Compared with the magician’s numerous little creatures, the reverse has larger, quieter areas. The green roof, pale stone and blue distance organise an environment before its small human activities are fully resolved. Turning the panel changes the viewer’s rhythm as well as the subject.
Probably One Wing of a Larger Work
Both the museum dossier and the French collection commentary suggest that the panel belonged to a triptych.[1][2] Its two painted faces would suit a movable wing, capable of presenting different imagery as an ensemble changed configuration. That is a plausible reconstruction of function, rather than identification of a surviving complete altarpiece.
The two faces also offer related concerns without illustrating one continuous narrative. James confronts a magician’s command over demons; Anthony reads near a religious house while disorder unfolds below. Spiritual authority, concentrated attention and unstable behaviour recur in different forms. Their juxtaposition allows comparison while keeping the saints and stories distinct.
The missing ensemble limits what can be reconstructed. These scenes do not securely identify its centre, the other wing, its patron or the setting in which it stood. The surviving panel is substantial evidence in its own right: a narrow support designed to sustain two fully developed painted worlds.
Following Bosch without Calling the Panel His
The attribution has changed over time. The 1969 English edition of Max J. Friedländer’s Early Netherlandish Painting reproduces both faces under Bosch and lists the panel as catalogue 100, with the older Valenciennes number 176.[7] That is evidence of an influential historical attribution, rather than confirmation that the current follower classification should be discarded.
The French national record preserves a revealing inconsistency. Its artist field names Bosch and its period field gives the second half of the fifteenth century, yet Patrick Ramade’s accompanying commentary questions Bosch’s authorship and discusses a disciple or copyist. The museum dossier explicitly uses follower, while KIK-IRPA supplies the later range around 1551–1575.[1][2][3] The qualified attribution and later date used here follow those distinctions.
A possible lost Bosch model remains a proposal. It cannot be placed beside the surviving panel to establish every borrowed figure or colour. The anonymous painter’s visible choices remain available for examination: the narrow theatrical audience, the route into the background, the quiet building and the carefully separated courtyard figures. Following an influential artist still leaves room for those particular decisions.
From a Private Collection to Valenciennes
The French record identifies the Duke of Croÿ’s Château de l’Hermitage as an earlier location and lists the panel among works acquired through Revolutionary confiscation.[1] KIK-IRPA retains the old inventory number 176, while the French record gives P.46.1.44.[3] These references connect different stages in the history of the same double-sided object.
That physical identity matters when viewing reproductions. The priory and the magician’s audience are not two unrelated paintings united only by Bosch’s name. One turn of the panel exchanges a commanding seated figure for a small standing reader, crowded monsters for open ground, and an elaborate canopy for a modest roof. The surviving object preserves both ways of directing attention.
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
KIK-IRPA gives approximately 1551–1575. That later range is a catalogue assessment, not an exact year established by a signature.[3]
Discussion
Compare the magician’s audience with the much quieter Antonian scene on the reverse.
Reader Insights
How does the canopy distinguish the magician from the creatures approaching him?
Follow the landscape towards the smaller episode with Saint James.
Compare the crowded encounter with the quiet reader and enclosed garden on the other face.
Join the Conversation
Share a detail, comparison or question about Saint James and Hermogenes: The Valenciennes Double-Sided Panel below.
References
- French national collections database: Saint James and Hermogenes / An Antonian Priory, P.46.1.44, including Patrick Ramade’s commentary View source.
- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes: 2015 educational dossier, relevant entry on page 6 View source.
- KIK-IRPA, BALaT: Saint James and the Magician / Saint Anthony, object 40002093 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
- Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend, Life of Saint James the Greater, William Caxton’s English version View source.
- Max J. Friedländer: Early Netherlandish Painting, volume V, 1969, entry 100 on page 86 and plate 92 View source.
- Splash image, Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch, Saint James the Greater and the Magician Hermogenes, about 1551–1575 according to KIK-IRPA, oil on wood, 62 × 41.5 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes, P.46.1.44. The other face depicts an Antonian priory. View source. View source. View source.
