“Experts at the Bosch Research and Conservation Project (BRCP) have confirmed that a drawing previously attributed to one of Hieronymus Bosch’s workshop assistants was actually rendered by the Flemish master himself. According to the Noordbrabants Museum, the scene of hell was auctioned off in 2003 by an unknown source and has since remained tucked away in a private collection. Matthijs Ilsink, BRCP’s project coordinator and art historian, told de Volkskrant that its owner invited him to examine the drawing, which he had known only from a book. After carefully studying it and comparing it with other works by Bosch, BRCP’s research team was able to determine its authenticity,” reports Claire Voon for Hyperallergic.
The scene features a tower, where a net scoops up lost human souls toward a water wheel, which protrudes from a monstrous creature’s gaping maw. Human bodies also hang inside a giant bell on the creature’s back, as if the people were its clappers. Beyond the monster-tower, a dragon spews other doomed souls into a large cauldron.
Easy Come, Easy Go: New Bosch Identified, Old Bosches Discredited.
