Hieronymus Bosch

Fantastical monsters and hybrid creatures are arranged to fill almost the entire surface of this sheet. The creatures were carefully drawn with a fine quill pen using clear, unbroken outlines and tight parallel hatching. The general tonal flatness and evenness of the mark-making suggest the drawing is a copy; it was executed in Hieronymus Bosch’s workshop, probably by an assistant or a student who was replicating Bosch’s designs.

A close follower (perhaps a student) of the Northern painter Hieronymus Bosch executed this sheet. Four of the grotesques depicted are copies from a drawing attributed to Bosch, now in Berlin. Neither this nor the Berlin drawing is related to a known painting, suggesting that the student used Bosch’s drawing as a model, a common workshop practice. Bosch’s works were filled with devilish creatures, highlighting his theme of the conflict between good and evil in the human soul.