Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple

Unknown Netherlandish artist in the manner of Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516)

Ca 1570. Oil on wood

One of the most peculiar Old Netherlandish artists, Hieronymus Bosch, lived and worked in the city of Hertogenbosch, the capital of the Province of Brabant, which nowadays belongs to the Netherlands. Among his patrons were representatives of the ruling upper class, theologians as well as humanists. King Philip II of Spain was an admirer of Bosch’s dreamlike art, and his passion for art collecting brought about a wave of Bosch forgeries at the end of the 16th century.

In the 16th century, Bosch’s art was extremely fashionable in Antwerp, the art centre of the Netherlands. Most of Bosch’s paintings were housed in elitist private collections; the general public knew his works mainly through prints, copies and works by artists attached to the circle of Bosch. The style of Bosch became a fashion imitated by innumerable artists. The painting “Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple” is related to Bosch mainly due to its humanistic spirit, the moralising Christian undertone of its message and the abundant use of locution and hidden meanings, complemented by a few motifs known from Bosch’s works. In addition to the painting at the Kadriorg Art Museum, there are three other known paintings that repeat the same composition with a few minor differences (they are located at the Danish National Gallery in Copenhagen, at the Glasgow Museum and in a western European private collection). The prototype of these paintings has not survived, but the four high-quality copies made between 1550 and 1600 prove that the original painting must have been well known and appreciated at the time.