The Wykehamist
by an anonymous Southern Netherlandish printmaker. At the bottom left of this print it reads,‘ Hieronimus Bos Invenit.’ Hieronymus Bosch invented this. Together, these two mentions of Bosch by his contemporary and the anonymous Netherlandish printmaker suggest a shared derivation from a lost work. According to that art historian Friedländer, du Hamel’ s engraving was so Boschian that this can definitely be assumed. It is also known that King Philip II of Spain owned a painting entitled The Siege of an Elephant, and that he was a passionate collector of Hieronymus Bosch’ s work. He assembled the largest collection of Bosch’ s paintings in the 16 th century, and had over twenty-five works in his collection. It seems likely to me that The Siege of an Elephant, owned by King Philip II was the lost work by Bosch from which du Hamel and the other printmaker took their design. As to whether the work from the private collection which I have focussed on, Fortitudo, is the missing link— the painting which inspired du Hamel and the other printmaker— it is hard to be certain.
Both scenes are identical and highlighted are two specific details which show a clear influence from one to the other, from du Hamel’ s print on the left, and Fortitudo
on the right. Both of these forms of barriers, or shields which the soldiers carry have spiked detailing in the shape of a heart, and both companies of soldiers carry a flag with a shoe as they flood out of the castle. They are at identical positions within their own compositions, in the top left-hand corner, and the expanse of the cityscape stretches out to their rights. Beneath I show two more examples. Both feature barbed walls, which have spikes with six barbs that protrude outwards, attacking the elephant. A soldier with half of his round shield can be seen poking out at the bottom and the figures with crossbows on the left of the barbed wall are nearly identical, their aim carefully trained on the elephant.
Fortitudo also shows clear similarities to other known paintings by Bosch, for example, his most famous work and one you may recognise— The Garden of Earthly Delights, from the Museo del Prado in Madrid. It was painted at a similar time to the engraving by du Hamel— at some point in the late 15 th or early 16 th century— and both images show a wealth of detail typical of Bosch, as well as various individual scenes within, each treated with a care and precision characteristic of Bosch. All these scenes across the image could have hours dedicated to their study and share
The Besieged War-Elephant— Alart du Hamel( c. 1490), British Museum.
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