What does the hay represent?

The hay symbolizes worldly vanity, things people fight over that are ultimately worthless. A Flemish proverb compared the world to a haystack everyone tries to grab from.

What are the three panels?

Left: Creation and Fall in Eden. Center: humanity chasing the hay wagon. Right: Hell, the destination of human greed.

Where is The Haywain displayed?

At the Museo del Prado in Madrid, which holds the finest collection of Bosch's work.

Where Is The Haywain Triptych? Museum Location

Hieronymus Bosch painted The Haywain Triptych around 1510-1516. When open, the panels show Eden on the left, Hell on the right, and in the center a massive hay wagon pulled toward damnation while humans fight to grab handfuls of straw. Closed, the panels show a wanderer walking a dangerous road.

The hay represents worldly goods and vanity, worthless yet fought over. Nobles, clergy, and commoners all grasp at the wagon. A proverb states "The world is a haystack; everyone takes what he can grab." Bosch illustrated human foolishness with his characteristic blend of the grotesque and moralistic.

King Philip II acquired this triptych for the Escorial. The Prado now displays it alongside Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights.

The Haywain Triptych

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Hieronymus Bosch

Christ Child with a Walking Frame

Christ Carrying the Cross

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Two witches

Also at Museo del Prado, Madrid

Descent from the Cross

Artemisia

Adam and Eve

A Soldier

Related Northern Renaissance Works

Self-Portrait at Twenty-Eight

The Annunciation

Arnolfini Portrait

Adam and Eve

Ghent Altarpiece

Portinari Altarpiece

Portrait of Albrecht Dürer the Elder

Christ as the Man of Sorrows

About The Haywain Triptych

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