Thursday, May 31, 2012

Two Heads


On iGoogle, I have an "Art of the Day" widget that shows me a different work of art whenever I sign in to view my St. Vlad's e-mail. Today it showed me Hieronymus Bosch's small painting, Two Male Heads. Googling the title of the painting brought up numerous sites that wanted to show me or sell me the painting. I learned that it is an oil painting on a wood panel and that it is currently located at the Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. But not one word about the painting's content.

To me, the head on the left looks like it is topped by something resembling a miter. And the one on the right reminds me of a Mongol khan. Could this be Bosch's attempt to depict the meeting of Pope Leo I with Attila the Hun?

My guess probably tells you more about where my head is these days (the fifth century) than about where Bosch's was when he painted this little work.