The Triumph of the Saint
 

In his pictures of the saints, Bosch seldom depicted those miraculous exploits and spectacular martyrdoms which so fascinated the later Middle Ages. Except for the early »Crucifixion of St Julia«, he showed the more passive virtues of the contemplative life: no soldier saints, no tender virgins frantically defending their chastity, but hermits meditating quietly in a landscape.
Three variations of this theme appear in the sadly damaged triptych ofthe» HermitSaints« in Venice, painted towards the middle of his career. In the centre St Jerome fastens his gaze on a crucifix, secure against the evil world symbolized by the remains of a pagan temple scattered around him on the ground and by two monstrous animals engaged in a death struggle below. On the left, St Anthony the Hermit resists the amorous advances of the Devil-Queen, an episode to which we shall return. Snugly ensconced in a cave chapel on the right wing, St Giles prays before an altar, the arrow piercing his breast commemorating the time when he was shot accidentally by a passing hunter.
All three saints reflect the monastic ideal as set forth, for example, in the limitation of Christ«: a life spent in mortification of the flesh and in continuous prayer and meditation. »How strict and self-denying was the life of the holy Fathers in the desert!« exclaims Thomas a Kempis, »How long and grievous the temptations they endured! How often they were assaulted by the Devil! How frequent and fervent their prayers to God! ... How great their zeal and ardour for spiritual progress! How valiant the battles they fought to overcome their vices!«
In the »St Jerome at Prayer«, Bosch gave an even more telling image of this ideal. Jerome has cast himself down, a crucifix cradled in his arms; his splendid red cardinal's robe lies abandoned on the ground. Absent are the dramatic gestures-the breast-beating and the eyes raised adoringly to the Cross - with which other artists represented the penitent saint, but in this still, intent figure, Bosch has nonetheless poignantly expressed Jerome's spiritual anguish. The peaceful background panorama contains no hint of evil, but the swampy grotto in which the saint lies is rank with corruption and decay. In his autobiography, Jerome describes how his meditations in the wilderness were interrupted by visions of beautiful courtesans. These lustful thoughts are undoubtedly symbolized by the large decomposing fruits near the saint's cave, reminiscent of the flora in the «Garden of Earthly Delights«. Only by surrendering completely to the will of God could Jerome subdue his rebellious flesh.
In another picture (Madrid, Museo Lazaro-Galdiano), Bosch shows St John the Baptist seated in a humid summer landscape. The composition may well have been influenced by a painting done some years earlier by Geertgen tot Sint Jans. Geertgen represented the thoughtful prophet staring abstractedly into space, rubbing one foot against the other, but Bosch shows him pointing purposefully towards the Lamb of God crouching at lower right. This gesture traditionally identifies John as the forerunner of Christ, the »precursor Christi«. In this instance however, it also indicates a spiritual alternative to the life of the flesh symbolized in the great pulpy fruits hanging near him on gracefully curving stems, and in the equally ominous forms rising in the background.