Hieronymus Bosch’s Dismantled Triptych as a Moralizing Guide for Reforming the Catholic Church

This thesis expands on the current interpretation of a dismantled triptych by the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, which includes four extant panels: Ship of Fools, Allegory of Intemperance, Death and the Miser, and The Wayfarer. Current scholarship claims that the paintings warn viewers against various sins. This thesis argues that the triptych was specifically directed toward the Catholic Church and functions as a commentary on the potential consequences of their sins. This new reading will become clear by examining and connecting its unorthodox iconography to the tumultuous religious climate at the turn of the sixteenth century and circulating texts including the Ars moriendi. In these paintings, Bosch repeatedly presented monks and nuns taking part in various sinful behaviors, thereby emphasizing Bosch’s disappointments with the Papacy. Examination of Bosch’s other works such as The Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi also known as The Epiphany triptych and his symbolic depictions of the Papacy as the Anti-Christ will provide context to his critique of the Catholic Church’s leaders and practices. The dismantled triptych’s unique composition, departing as it does from Bosch’s other triptychs, further supports that the Catholic Church was its intended viewer. Further interpretation reveals that while Bosch was displeased with their current actions, he painted the dismantled triptych as a guide to show how the Papacy could correct their path and make choices that would instead lead them toward salvation.