DOI Heft:
Nr. 1-4
DOI Artikel:Paszkiewicz, Piotr: Noctural bird of wisdom: symbolic functions of the owl in emblems
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18898#0068
3. G. Schalcken, The Pedlar, Berlin. Akademie der bildende Kiinste
in 1726 that by calling one an owi (t' is een uil), the Dutch describe one as ignorant21. The source
of the identification of the owi with human stupidity, so popular in the 17th century, can be
traced back to the 15th and 16th century tradition of Netherlandish painting. In this meaning,
it appears in numerous paintings of the period, beginning from those by Hieronymus Bosch or
Lucas van Leyden.
In each of the five versions of Bosch's the Conjurer, an owi appears in a basket attached to
the belt of the conjurer's cloak22. The same element is repeated in Balthazar van den Bos's
print done after Bosch. In the Philadelphia version of the painting, an owi is shown additionally
on a pole above the heads of the spectators on the grating of the enclosure where an ox playing
musie is kept (as yet another device with which to fool people). Similarly, in the version formerly
in Munich, the owi is likewise situated on the grating of the enclosure. Its symblic role in Bosch's
composition is quite obvious. It expresses the stupidity of people, notably the woman on whom
22. Versions of the painting can be found in the following collections: Saint Germain-en-Łaye, Musee Municipal; Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania Museum of Art; New York, Nicholson Gallery; California, private collection; formerly in Munich (present
bearings unknown). L. Brand Philip, „The Pedlar by Hieronymus Bosch. A Study in Detection", Nederlands Kunst-
historisch Jaarboek, IX, 1958, p. 35.
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in 1726 that by calling one an owi (t' is een uil), the Dutch describe one as ignorant21. The source
of the identification of the owi with human stupidity, so popular in the 17th century, can be
traced back to the 15th and 16th century tradition of Netherlandish painting. In this meaning,
it appears in numerous paintings of the period, beginning from those by Hieronymus Bosch or
Lucas van Leyden.
In each of the five versions of Bosch's the Conjurer, an owi appears in a basket attached to
the belt of the conjurer's cloak22. The same element is repeated in Balthazar van den Bos's
print done after Bosch. In the Philadelphia version of the painting, an owi is shown additionally
on a pole above the heads of the spectators on the grating of the enclosure where an ox playing
musie is kept (as yet another device with which to fool people). Similarly, in the version formerly
in Munich, the owi is likewise situated on the grating of the enclosure. Its symblic role in Bosch's
composition is quite obvious. It expresses the stupidity of people, notably the woman on whom
22. Versions of the painting can be found in the following collections: Saint Germain-en-Łaye, Musee Municipal; Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania Museum of Art; New York, Nicholson Gallery; California, private collection; formerly in Munich (present
bearings unknown). L. Brand Philip, „The Pedlar by Hieronymus Bosch. A Study in Detection", Nederlands Kunst-
historisch Jaarboek, IX, 1958, p. 35.
62