Around 1480 -1516 · Child Jesus, donor families and moral signs

In the world of Hieronymus Bosch, the child rarely appears as an autonomous subject: Child Jesus, descendants of donors and small symbolic figures link salvation, family memory and human fragility.

Hieronymus Bosch works in a culture where the image of the child is primarily religious, dynastic or moral. The Virgin and Child gives little Jesus a devotional presence, while Saint Christopher carries the Child above a landscape filled with signs and dangers. On the altarpiece shutters, sons and daughters of donors extend the family in prayer; the representation of a dead child can also inscribe mourning and hope of salvation in the order. Elsewhere, a child with a windmill and walker can also inscribe mourning and hope of salvation in the order. Elsewhere, a child with a windmill and walker can also inscribe mourning and hope of salvation in the order. Elsewhere, a child with a windmill and walker belongs to this world of enigmatic details where play, age of life and possible allegory overlap. Bosch therefore does not offer a sentimental childhood: each small figure participates in a larger spiritual reading. The "Children at Hieronymus Bosch" selection notably compares Virgin and Child and Saint Christopher carrying the Child Jesus. His reading favors composition.

In Bosch, the child is almost never isolated from destiny: he carries salvation, the memory of a family or the moral enigma of the world.