Hieronymus Bosch
St. Bavo

1490
Grisaille on panel
Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

The spurs, fine clothes, and falcon on the wrist are traditional ways of representing the wealthy and carefree life St. Bavo led before his conversion. His giving of alms to the poor from his purse is a similarly traditional way of expressing the conversion itself. The amputated foot and the bowl on the child's head are Boschian enigmas.

Read more about images of St. Bavo.

• Home Page
• Iconography of St. Bavo
• This Page

Source: this page at Wikimedia Commons.