Learn about the history, description and analysis of one of the most popular and emblematic works in the career of the Dutch El Bosco: The Hay Wagon, in which he directly alludes to the theme of sin, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Terrestrial Paradise and hell.
The Hay Wagon
Throughout his successful and brilliant career as a painter, the Dutch Bosch had the opportunity to create important works of art, many of them with a great impact worldwide. On this occasion we want to talk to you about one of the most emblematic paintings of his entire career: El Carro de Heno.
The hay cart is today one of the most popular creations in history and with a high meaning within the medium. The work was made by nothing more and nothing less than the Dutch painter Bosch. It is constituted as one of his last works and it is dedicated to dealing especially with the theme of sin.
It is a large table divided into three different parts. The work is made in oil on board. The main table measures 135 x 100 centimeters, while the two side tables have approximate dimensions of 135 x 45 centimeters each. In each of the panels, the artist focused on illustrating what he most defines us as humans: our flaws.
History
It is still not known for sure when the work El Carro de Hayo was made, however there are several versions about the original date on which the Dutchman painted this emblematic painting. Most hypotheses suggest that it was between the years 1500 and 1502, although today we speak of approximately 1516 or later, thanks to dendrochronological analysis.
The date is not clear, but what is very clear is that The Haywain was one of the last works to be painted by the Dutchman Bosch. In fact, it has been positioned as a painting from the last period of the artist, which would also motivate the intervention of the painter's workshop.
In the 1570s, the then King Felipe II decided to acquire this painting from the heirs of Felipe de Guevara. Four years after being bought by the king, the painting is taken to the El Escorial Monastery. A copy of this painting was also made, which was made in the painter's workshop at the hands of an assistant who perfectly handled the Dutchman's technique.
Although it is not known exactly, it is believed that this copy of El Carro de Heno was made under the supervision of the Dutch El Bosco. The copy of the painting was finally installed in the Monastery of El Escorial, while the original painting was first taken to the Casa de Campo and later to the collection of the Marquis of Salamanca.
There was a time when it was dismembered, decomposing in the Prado Museum. After the beginning of the so-called Spanish Civil War, the painting El Carro de Hayo was transferred to the Prado Museum, with the aim of preserving it in a better way, so much so that it is still in that place today.
What cannot be doubted is the great impact that this interesting work by the artist Hieronymus Bosch, better known as El Bosco, caused and continues to cause. The painting was painted in oil on board. As a whole the work is dedicated to the theme of sin. It is precisely the central table that gives its name to the triptych, it represents an old Flemish proverb:
"Life is a hay cart and everyone takes from it everything they can."
As we have been commenting, there is a copy of the original painting that was ordered to be done by the monarch Philip II for El Escorial. Currently this copy continues to be discussed in that place. For its part, the original painting can be found within the magnificent collections of Flemish painting that the Prado Museum has located in the city of Madrid.
Frame analysis
In this part of our article we will be carrying out a complete and interesting analysis of the work El Carro de Heno, which was painted by the Dutch El Bosco and considered one of his latest creations. This painting deals especially with the theme of sin and its relationship with the human being.
The first thing that can be said is that this work is a triptych, in a nutshell it is made up of three panels. The central table is the largest, while the two that are located on the sides have smaller dimensions. Together they form an attractive painting where the author depicts themes related to sin.
The closed triptych reflects a pilgrim who in his journey through life moves away from temptations such as greed and lust, while the open triptych shows how the sins of man always lead him down the wrong path and ends them. leading straight to hell.
the traveling salesman
Let's talk a bit about the Hay Wagon triptych when it's closed. There you can see as a central theme a traveling salesman, attributed to Bosch and his workshop. That image would make a direct allusion to the Path of Life, with a pilgrim, a kind of stoic hermit stalked by the dangers of the journey, and who resists the temptations represented by the dancing couple (lust), an idea typical of modern Devotio .
side boards
First of all we are going to talk about the side tables of this triptych. The work is made up of two specific ones and both have the same dimensions, although they touch on completely different themes, focused on sin.
- Left shutter: The Earthly Paradise
The Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch tried to illustrate on the left panel quite interesting subjects related to sin. In this part of the painting you can see aspects such as the creation, sin and the expulsion of Eve and Adam from the Garden of Eden. On the left wing of the painting, four different scenes are shown.
The left wing is based on the theme of sin, but this time Bosch refers to its origins. In the upper area of this table you can clearly see the theme of the expulsion of the rebellious angels, who after falling in disobedience to God, end up being expelled from the heavenly paradise and are sent to earth in the form of insects.
Throughout the upper part, the painter El Bosco focuses on illustrating the expulsion of the rebellious angels. It can be seen that while these disobedient angels are precipitating, their physical appearance is transformed little by little. They no longer look like beautiful angels but take on more of an animal aspect, specifically resembling toads and insects.
A little further down, in this same left wing, the artist perfectly illustrates everything that has to do with the creation of Eve, which, according to what is explained in the Bible, was taken from Adam's rib. Also in the lower part but a little more to the right you can see Original Sin with the serpent with the head of a woman and clawed hands.
Finally, in this left panel, the theme of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Terrestrial Paradise is illustrated. In this way, the artist represents the four episodes in the reverse order of how they appear in the right panel of the triptych of the Judgment of Vienna, which places the expulsion from Paradise in the background and not in the foreground as Bosch does.
- Right shutter: Hell
The right panel of this triptych made by Bosch could be said to be closely linked to other of his most emblematic works "The Garden of Earthly Delights". In this part allusion is made to hell, to which the car is headed along with all the characters that follow it.
This right wing is entirely dedicated to hell and the punishment of having fallen into sin and disobedience. Hell is represented as an incandescent city, with devils dedicated to the construction of a tower, perhaps a reference to the biblical Tower of Babel.
The painter El Bosco makes a perfect illustration of what hell and its consequences represent. In this high right of the triptych you can see a city completely on fire, where what predominates the most, apart from the fire, is the presence of demons and the damned.
This group of demons and the damned are seen in a desperate attitude in an attempt to build a tower. In this right wing you can see the arrival of the first sinners from the hay cart, some devils building a tower, perhaps an allusion to the Tower of Babel in order to eternally “house” those who are arriving.
In this part of the painting the author also tries to express each of the tortures to which sinners will be subjected in hell. This can be seen in the figure of the man mounted on a cow who is pierced by a spear or also in the man who is a little lower down who is being devoured by some dogs.
center table
The central panel of this painting is one of the most interesting in the entire work. The car is represented in which the crowd without class differences strive to take some hay and that corresponds to an allegory of biblical origin alluding to the ephemeral and perishable things of this world.
The work takes its original title precisely from the scene shown in this central part: The Hay Wain. It is based on a biblical passage from the prophet Isaiah, which speaks of how the pleasures and riches of the world are like the hay of the fields that soon dry up and even sooner end.
“All flesh is like hay and all splendor like the flower of the fields. The hay dries up, the flower falls off.”
In the upper part of the central panel several scenes can be seen: Firstly, a humble couple who are kissing (an allusion to lust). Right in front of them we can see another noble class couple colliding with the music (an allusion to courtly love), while they are seen by another character.
To the right is a blue demon with a trunk nose and a peacock tail who seems to be at ease with music and profane love rituals. This devil is the counterpart of the angel on the other side and shows an attitude of surrender to God, asking for divine intercession for humanity.
At the top and in the middle of the clouds we can see the image of the risen Christ who observes everything that is happening and shows the wounds of his Passion.
Leading the procession that follows the chariot are several characters, including the King of France, the Pope and the Emperor. In the central part of the painting a homicide can be seen; guiding the chariot to lead it to hell, represented on the right wing, are hybrid creatures between men and animals.
Father José de Sigüenza, at the end of the XNUMXth century, alluded to these creatures and said that they symbolized the different vices of humanity:
“This hay cart, what is this glory about, seven beasts, wild beasts and frightening monsters throw at it, where half Leonese men, others half dogs, others half bears, half fish, half wolves, all symbols and figures of the society; beats lust, greed, ambition, bestiality, tyranny, sagacity and brutality "
Theme
The Dutch painter El Bosco intends through this work to expose how all social classes try to reach their share of hay in the cart, that is, their share of pleasures and riches. In this table it is possible to observe the posture of the most powerful social classes, for example the emperors, kings and popes, who do not have any inconvenience in reaching their "pleasure ration".
On the other hand, there is the representation of the less wealthy classes of society who do not have it so easy. This group of people have to trample or kill each other and even get attacked by demons in order to achieve some of those “pleasures”.
In this work many themes are touched upon, among them sin, the eagerness and the desire to always do what is most inappropriate, without taking into account the voice of God. It is a crushing satire of a world that has abandoned God.
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