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Original fileILVB register 1495-1501 fol 198v line 15-23 colour version
About This Work
This manuscript fragment is a financial record of a 'swan meal' (Swaenmaaltijd) attended by members of an influential religious brotherhood. The text specifically names 'Jheronimus van Aken schilder' (Hieronymus Bosch) as the one who presided over the table. The cursive script is typical of late 15th-century Dutch archival records, written in ink on paper.
This is a key primary source for the biography of Hieronymus Bosch, proving his status as a 'Sworn Brother' within a prestigious religious organization. The Brotherhood’s devotions and its focus on the 'Brotherhood of the Swan' provided the specific social and theological context for much of Bosch's complex moralizing and visionary artwork.
Inscriptions(Dutch)
Item ter lre vergaderinge doemen den swaen att / tot vbourch vander putten / dair jhero nimus van aken schilder dat laken aff regaelde In pbentie jeronimus end gheerart vander stueren ons ghenade had dair toe noch gheerdt heijm knecht van vgen en ander swaen van agt pondt end de knecht die den swaen bragt die zijn drinclinghen iij st st haman ——— xij st
Translation