[God is Watching] A 500-year-old warning. The terrifying hidden mechanisms in the boss's 'The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things'

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 'Zundamon Art Museum'.

The artist we are patrolling this time is our channel's favorite, Hieronymus Bosch! Although he painted such wild hellscapes in 'The Garden of Earthly Delights', this 'The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things' (c. 1485) is an incredibly terrifying work that more directly confronts you with, 'Hey, haven't you been doing bad things?'

From the 'Eye of God' in the center to the tortures of hell in the corners, I will explain Bosch's obsessive attention to detail in depth.

👁️ Center: The giant 'Eye of God'

The first thing that catches your eye is the large circle in the center. This symbolizes the 'Eye of God' (pupil).

• Christ in the center: In the pupil area, Christ is depicted showing his wounds. It is a message saying, 'I am suffering for your sins.'

• Terrifying warning text: The words written just below Christ are...

  1. 'Beware, beware, God is watching'

  2. There is no escape! It is said that people in Bosch's time would place this painting like a tablecloth and check themselves during meals, asking, 'Have I committed any sins?' It makes for a stomach-churning dining table, doesn't it...

🍕 Surroundings: The Seven Deadly Sins

In the iris area spreading from the pupil, the 'Seven Deadly Sins' that humans commit are depicted in a comical yet poisonous way. Let's look at them clockwise!

Wrath (Ira): Two men are having a huge fight in front of a house! One is wearing a chair, and the other has pulled out a kitchen knife. A woman is desperately trying to stop them, but the ugliness of humans who have lost their reason is on full display.

Pride (Superbia): A woman admiring her own reflection in a mirror. But the one holding that mirror is, believe it or not, a 'demon'! She thinks she's just being fashionable, but she's dancing in the palm of a demon... Bosch's irony is sharp here.

Lust (Luxuria): Inside a pink tent, two couples are flirting. Musical instruments and food are scattered about, and they are indulging in pleasure. In the morality of that time, enjoying yourself outside of marriage meant you were definitely going to hell.

Sloth (Accidia): A man dozing off in front of a fireplace. Even though a nun is calling out to him, 'Pray!', he shows no sign of waking up. Failing to do what you should do is also a significant sin.

Gluttony (Gula): A parent and child devouring the feast laid out on the table. The father is drinking beer, and the child is begging for more food. It is a warning that while there are poor people, filling only your own stomach is a sin.

Greed (Avaritia): This is a scene where a judge is secretly accepting a bribe. Selling justice for money... Bosch never misses the dirty parts of humanity that remain unchanged even today.

Envy (Invidia): A couple staring intently through a window at the luxurious life of their neighbors. They are holding a large bone in their hands, but a dog at their feet is eyeing that very bone. It depicts the wretchedness of not being satisfied with what one has and coveting the possessions of others.

⌛ The Four Corners: The 'Four Last Things' of Life

The four corners of the circle depict the four stages that humans encounter at the end of their lives.

• Top Left [Death]: The moment of passing. As a priest prays, an angel and a demon are waiting by the bedside! It is a crossroads of fate, asking, 'Which one of us gets his soul?'

• Top Right [The Last Judgment]: Christ delivering judgment and angels blowing trumpets. It is the day of destiny when the dead rise from their graves to be judged for heaven or hell.

• Bottom Right [Heaven]: The chosen ones play music and pass through a gate filled with light. But only a select few can go here...

• Bottom Left [Hell]: This is where Bosch truly shows his skill! It depicts 'customized torture' corresponding to the seven deadly sins.

  • Those who overate are force-fed by demons,

  • a vain woman is forced to hold a mirror by a demon,

  • and the lazy are shaken awake in their beds by demons... It is truly a theme park of 'retribution'!

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Editor's Note (Metan)
This 'The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things.' Bosch never painted this just to scare us. He gave form to the earnest worldview of the people of that time, which said, 'God is watching everything you do from above the sky.'

However, the many sins depicted are all things that we, even 500 years later, can relate to and think, 'I've seen that before...' Perhaps humans, no matter how much the times change, cannot escape gluttony, envy, or vanity.

If you feel irritated with someone today, or if you happen to overeat, try to remember the 'Eye of God' in the center of this painting. 'Beware, beware.' Those words might just set your tomorrow a little bit straighter.

With a calm heart, gaze upon this 'beauty of warning'.