ROTTERDAM/Exhibition — Five hundred years ago, a cheeky Roman Catholic artist from the Dutch town of ’s-Hertogenbosch revolutionized the triptych, the three-panel altarpiece form traditionally used for scenes of virgins, cherubs and saints.

In his “Haywain Triptych” of 1515, Hieronymus Bosch instead painted in ordinary sinners — murderers, whores, quacks and errant clergymen — being escorted toward Hell by a weird parade of rodent-faced demons and fish-shaped devils.
The Haywain Triptych is currently housed in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. A date of around 1516 has been established by means of dendrochronological research. The central panel, signed „Jheronimus Bosch“, measures 135 by 200 centimeters and the wings measure 147 x 66 cm. The outside shutters feature a version of Bosch’s The Wayfarer.