Hieronymus Bosch (Jeroen van Aken, ca 1450-1516), The Haywain (1500-1502), triptych, right wing, detail.
Prado Museum, Madrid.
On the right wing, picturing hell, a circular tower is in process of construction. A demon climbs a ladder with fresh mortar for the devil on the scaffolding above. On the bridge a hapless, helmeted figure is forced to lead a cow into the infernal tower, twice punished for stealing his neighbour’s cattle and for having committed acts of sacrilege, symbolized by the eucharistic chalice that he holds in his hand. The man on the ground with a toad gnawing his genitals suffers the fate of lechers. On the foreground, greed is mercilessly punished by a fish-like monster, having adapted the legs of some other victim to its body. Another unlucky figure tied up like a rabbit dangles upside down from the pole of a hooded devil, whose dogs rush to bring down a couple under the bridge.