Thomas Grange( K, 2021-) and the case of the mysterious elephant
The Wykehamist
The Winner’ s Presentation
Thomas Grange( K, 2021-) and the case of the mysterious elephant
Fortitudo, as written in gold capitals on its frame, is a painting of a war elephant from a private collection in Berkshire. I chose this painting because the preciseness of its detail grabbed me, articulated in Grisaille, in other words painted in blacks and greys. Beyond this clear aesthetic appeal, it also held the possibility that it could be a lost work by the famed 16 th century Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch, sharing similarities in its style and technique with other examples by the artist. Painted in oil on panel— something typical of Bosch— the painting shows a teeming battlefield panorama. This includes a combination of human warriors and emblematic animals which are, yet again, typical of Bosch. The armed parties advance toward the war elephant from every direction, creating a turbulent, almost centrifugal composition that forces you to examine the scene from the centre outward, to make sense of all that is happening.
The painting shares many similarities with an engraving by Alart du Hamel( see bottom of next page), an architect and engraver from s-Hertogenbosch, the same city which Hieronymus Bosch was from. Du Hamel was the first to make prints based on works of art by Bosch. He was also an important figure in the city and belonged to similar social and artistic circles as Bosch. Both of them were members of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of the veneration of Mary. It is likely that this print was directly inspired by a lost work of Bosch, as suggested in 1927 by Friedländer, a German Art Historian, in Book 5 of his series Early Netherlandish Painting.
At the top of du Hamel’ s version, two names are printed— that of Bosch at the left and du Hamel on the right, suggesting further that du Hamel was basing his engraving on a work by his contemporary. A mid-16 th century version of the same scene exists, carved
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