Saint Anthony and a Concert in an Egg: The Berlin Drawing

Saint Anthony sits with an open book and a raised hand, surrounded by creatures that combine human faces, animal bodies and household objects. A river and clustered buildings stretch behind him. Turn the paper over, and the subject changes: singers crowd into the opening of an enormous egg, above faint sketches of monstrous birds. The sheet preserves several acts of drawing rather than one composition carried through unchanged.

Berlin’s Kupferstichkabinett holds the object as KdZ 711. Its current records assign the main scenes to the workshop of Hieronymus Bosch, with Bosch also recorded as an alternative attribution for the reverse.^[1][3] The 2016 Bosch Research and Conservation Project catalogue, or BRCP, makes a more specific distinction: it gives the Saint Anthony and the concert to a workshop hand, while attributing two monster sketches on the reverse to Bosch himself.^[4]

At a Glance

• FrontThe Temptation of Saint Anthony
• ReverseConcert in an Egg and two monster sketches
• Main scenesWorkshop of Hieronymus Bosch
• Monster sketchesAttributed to Bosch by the BRCP; possibly Bosch in the museum’s exhibition text
• DateAround 1510–1525 in the museum’s 2016–17 exhibition texts
• MediumPen in light and dark brown inks
• CollectionKupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
• InventoryKdZ 711 recto and verso
• Front dimensions25.7 × 17.1 cm in the current museum record

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.

Approximate dates

14801490150015101520

Saint Jerome at Prayer

Circa 1485–1495 ^[5]

Crucifixion with a Donor

Circa 1490–1500 (BRCP) ^[5]

Hermit Saints Triptych

Circa 1495–1505 ^[5]

Saint Liberata Triptych

Circa 1495–1505 ^[5]

The Hearing Forest and the Seeing Field

Circa 1500–1505 (Berlin exhibition) ^[2]

The Haywain Triptych

1510–1516 (BRCP) ^[5]

Annotated Details from Saint Anthony and a Concert in an Egg

The front of Berlin KdZ 711 shows Saint Anthony surrounded by creatures and a distant settlement. The available view of the reverse shows singers gathered inside an egg.

Front: Saint Anthony

Reverse: Concert in an Egg, Available View

Details from SAINT ANTHONY AND A CONCERT IN AN EGG

The article explains the workshop attribution and the differing opinions on the underlying sketches. No lines have been reconstructed or strengthened.

Front: Saint Anthony

1

The seated saint

The bearded saint sits with a small book and a long staff. Closely repeated folds give his robe a different density from the light outlines of the surrounding country.

2

The buildings above

A group of buildings occupies the upper slope. The tower and small bridge below form a separate passage towards the distant settlement.

3

Creatures at the lower edge

Several hybrid creatures occupy the lower edge of the sheet. A large rounded body with a human profile contrasts with the smaller bird-like forms beside it.

Reverse: Concert in an Egg, Available View

4

Singers and the open score

The singers cluster above the curved shell beside an open book. The available photograph records staining and overlapping marks; the view retains those features at native resolution.

Image and detail crops: Wikimedia Commons source 1; Wikimedia Commons source 2 (public domain reproductions).

Anthony’s Book, Hand and Pig

Anthony occupies the centre of the front, his long robe spreading downwards into angular folds. The large body gives the drawing a stable centre before the viewer begins sorting through its smaller inventions. His cap has a relatively simple outline, and his beard falls across the upper part of the garment. The face turns slightly towards the right.

One hand holds the book open against his body; the other rises beside it with two fingers extended. The arrangement joins reading and response within one compact gesture. His attention does not collapse into the agitation around him. Even where the surrounding forms become difficult to assemble, the saint remains a readily legible seated figure.

The pig at his left supplies another point of recognition. The museum’s exhibition account identifies it as Anthony’s attribute.^[6] Its head emerges beside the robe, lower than the open book. Although it shares the crowded foreground with fantastic creatures, it should not automatically be counted among the monsters tempting him.

His robe establishes a different rhythm from theirs. Broad areas of cloth slow the eye, while dark triangular hatchings deepen particular folds. The monsters often depend on a pointed snout, a stretched neck or an abrupt change in scale. Anthony’s more continuous outline gives those small irregularities something firm to disturb.

A River Landscape behind the Saint

The upper half opens into a comparatively quiet setting. Buildings cluster along the far bank, their roofs and walls indicated with economical lines. Trees interrupt the architecture, while a bridge leads towards a small gateway nearer the middle. Thin horizontal strokes describe water and separate the foreground from the settlement beyond.

The museum interprets the buildings as a monastic complex.^[6] Their enclosed arrangement offers a setting appropriate to the hermit’s subject without identifying an actual monastery. The drawing supplies no inscription naming a town or recording a particular journey. Its architecture is part of the composition, rather than evidence for a securely located historical view.

The landscape also changes the scale of looking. Tiny people near the bridge and water appear far smaller than Anthony. The river carries attention away from his dense folds towards spaces described with much less ink. Returning to the foreground then makes the surrounding creatures seem unusually isolated and emphatic.

That contrast interested the museum’s curators. Their exhibition text observes an attempt at depth but finds the drawing largely flat, partly because the reinforced creatures stand apart from the space around them.^[6] The assessment concerns how the image is constructed. It does not require every unfinished or pale passage to be interpreted as damage.

Bells, Long Necks and an Inhabited Fruit

At the left of Anthony, a small face peers beneath a bell-shaped covering. At the right, a much taller creature stands on narrow legs below a rounded, hollow body and an extended neck. A vessel sits above it, and a separate bell appears nearby. Familiar implements remain recognisable while becoming components of unfamiliar bodies.

The museum connects these displaced bells with Anthony’s own attributes and suggests that the monsters can appear as manifestations of his imagination.^[6] That interpretation explains why the creatures borrow objects from the saint’s world. The drawing lets a familiar shape move between devotional attribute and fantastic body.

Four additional creatures occupy the lower area. One has a long projection emerging from a rounded head, another resembles a small animal carrying a rider or burden, and a bird-like form moves beside a large hollow fruit. A human face and an arm appear to belong to the fruit-shaped enclosure. Each invention uses a different balance of recognisable anatomy and impossible construction.

The BRCP relates the inhabited fruit to a similar form in the Saint Anthony wing of the Job triptych in Bruges.^[4] The comparison identifies a specific kind of borrowed invention without proving that this sheet directly prepared that painting. It places the drawing within a larger workshop practice of recombining forms associated with Bosch.

Reinforcing the Foreground in Darker Ink

Some lines remain light brown, while others have been strengthened into much darker contours. The BRCP describes the four lower figures as first drawn in light ink and then emphasised in a second phase.^[4] The contrast makes their outlines unusually easy to follow against the more lightly described paper.

Reinforcement changes their relationship with the landscape. The buildings can seem distant because so little ink defines them; the foreground inventions appear closer and more insistently bounded. Yet stronger outlines do not necessarily give each creature a convincing position within the same ground. The darkening can bring a form forward while leaving it spatially detached.

The two phases should not be converted into an unsupported story about named collaborators on the front. The BRCP assigns its composition to a workshop hand. Differences in ink and degree of finish preserve stages of work, but do not by themselves supply the identity of each person involved or the time between applications.

Turning to the Concert

The reverse is read horizontally. A large oval shell occupies most of the available space, but the singers gather near its upper opening. Heads rise behind one another around a shared book. Open mouths and turned faces give the group an animation quite different from Anthony’s measured pose on the other side.

The book again organises attention, although it now serves a collective performance. A finger points towards its marks. These indicate music, but the drawing does not justify importing the identified song from the separate Lille painting. The Berlin group has its own arrangement, and its abbreviated notation should not be treated as a fully recovered score.

At the back of the cluster, one participant lifts a cup and a staff with a small head-shaped finial. An owl sits above his head. These additions expand the gathering’s absurdity without producing a single, certain explanation for every object. The cup’s raised position is visible; the precise identity or occupation of the person holding it is not.

The egg remains strikingly empty below the singers. Its long exposed curve gives their compact cluster a disproportionate enclosure. A smaller figure clings outside the shell at the right, interrupting the smooth boundary. The image’s humour depends partly on this mismatch between a closely packed performance and the enormous, improbable vessel supporting it.

The Monster Sketches beneath the Egg

Fainter drawings become visible in the open space around the concert. At the left, a large bird-like head opens a curved beak. Another head is cut by the lower-right edge. Their lighter ink and more abbreviated lines make them easy to miss when the dark singers first command attention.

The BRCP observes that part of the concert is drawn over the first monster sketch. It therefore places the concert later within the sheet’s development.^[4] This is evidence of relative order: one set of lines had to exist before another crossed it. It does not establish how long the paper waited before being reused.

The catalogue also connects the cropped head and surviving hatching near the upper right with a formerly larger sheet.^[4] What looks like spare paper around the egg can thus preserve remnants of other activity. The reverse’s present boundary does not necessarily describe the area originally available to its draughtsmen.

How Much Belongs to Bosch?

The attribution turns on these distinctions within the object. The BRCP regards the monster sketches as comparable in quality and handling to Bosch’s accepted drawings. It interprets the sheet as paper already used by Bosch and then taken up within his workshop, where another hand added the concert and drew the Saint Anthony scene.^[4]

The museum’s exhibition wording is more reserved. It labels the reverse Bosch with a question mark and workshop, and says that the expressive monster studies may be by Bosch.^[6] Its current collection record gives workshop execution while retaining Bosch as another attribution.^[3] These assessments agree that the entire reverse should not simply become an unquestioned autograph.

The workshop designation also permits invention. The BRCP treats the concert as probably a free variation on an idea by Bosch, rather than a mechanically exact copy.^[4] A workshop artist could adapt a visual conceit, arrange faces and develop a composition. Original combinations within the drawing do not automatically identify the master’s own hand.

An Egg, Foolishness and the Lille Painting

The museum’s exhibition account proposes that the fragile shell and cheerful singers evoke the instability of worldly pleasures. It also links eggs with proverbial foolishness and wordplay.^[6] Those associations offer a historically informed interpretation of the enclosure, while leaving its individual details open to examination.

The related Concert in the Egg painting in Lille develops the subject into a much larger spectacle. The BRCP places that surviving painting most probably in the third quarter of the sixteenth century.^[4] A common subject therefore connects objects from different moments, without proving that the Berlin paper was made as a direct preparatory design for the Lille canvas.

For the drawing, the more immediate story is the use of the sheet. A saint’s resistance, a chorus’s absorption and isolated monster studies coexist on two faces. Their relationships emerge through the physical object and its successive marks, as well as through the ideas represented.

Repairs, Measurements and Collecting Marks

The drawing has substantial repairs. The BRCP records a central tear, other repaired areas, discolouration from adhesive, folds, stains and a cut lower-right corner.^[4] These affect the appearance of both sides. A conspicuous brown patch should not be read as a shadow intentionally placed beneath a creature merely because it crosses the drawn image.

Published measurements also vary. The current museum records give 25.7 × 17.1 cm for the front and 25.7 × 17.6 cm for the reverse, while the BRCP gives 25.8 × 17.9 cm for the sheet.^[1][3][4] The difference should remain attached to the records, rather than prompting an invented account of when particular strips were cut away.

The museum records acquisition before 1878 from Karl Siegmund Franz vom Stein zum Altenstein.^[1][3] The stamps and pencil annotations belong to that collecting history. They are separate from the decisions preserved in the ink: where a saint sits, how a creature acquires a body, and how an egg-shaped performance is added over an earlier invention.

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.

79 records

Search records Medium All media Drawing Painting Reset

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

What appears on the reverse?

A Concert in an Egg and two earlier monster sketches occupy the reverse of Berlin KdZ 711. They are not separate sheets.^[3][4]

Who drew the main scenes?

The museum and BRCP place the Saint Anthony and concert scenes in Bosch’s workshop. The BRCP gives the two monster sketches to Bosch, while the museum exhibition text calls his participation possible.^[1][3][4][6]

When was the drawing made?

The museum’s 2016–17 exhibition text places it around 1510–1525. The different stages of drawing should not be reduced to a precise single year.^[6]

Is the Lille Concert in the Egg this drawing?

No. The Lille painting is a separate later work. Its relationship with the Berlin concert is a comparison between distinct objects, not a different location for the same work.^[4][6]

References

1. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: The Temptation of Saint Anthony, KdZ 711 recto, current record View source.
2. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2016 exhibition wall texts, p. 3: approximate date of KdZ 549. View source
3. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: Concert in an Egg, KdZ 711 verso, current record View source.
4. Bosch Research and Conservation Project: Catalogue Raisonné, 2016, entry 43, pages 522–525 View source.
5. 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
6. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: Bosch exhibition worklist and wall texts, pages 4–5, 2016–17 View source.
7. Splash image, Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, around 1510–1525 according to the museum’s 2016–17 exhibition texts, pen in light and dark brown inks, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, KdZ 711 recto. Current museum dimensions: 25.7 × 17.1 cm. View source. View source.