Vuyl Sause (Dirty Sauce)

Hieronymus Bosch

MEDIUMEtching on ivory laid paper
DIMENSIONSPlate: 19.4 × 28.6 cm (7 11/16 × 11 5/16 in.); sheet: 21.3 × 30.9 cm (8 7/16 × 12 3/16 in.)
LOCATIONArt Institute of Chicago
COLLECTIONPrints and Drawings
CULTUREFlanders
CREDIT LINECharles Hack and the Hearn Family Trust Collection, purchased with funds provided by the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial, Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J. Livingston, anonymous, and Suzanne Searle Dixon endowment funds

Step into a bizarre kitchen where a monstrous cook oversees a chaotic feast of grotesque figures. This etching offers a vivid, cautionary tale about gluttony and excess from the Northern Renaissance.

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ABOUT THIS WORK

This etching, titled "Vuyl Sause" or "Dirty Sauce," thrusts us into a chaotic scene where a massive, grotesque figure, seemingly a gluttonous cook, presides over a cauldron. Around him, smaller, equally bizarre creatures engage in various acts of culinary mischief and consumption. The dark, dense lines of the etching create a sense of frantic energy, emphasizing the swirling activity and the ominous shadows cast by the central figure. Look closely at the details of the strange implements and the expressions of the contorted beings. This print captures a world turned upside down, a common theme in Northern Renaissance art, where moral failings are depicted through exaggerated, often nightmarish, imagery. The artist, known for his fantastical illustrations, uses this medium to explore the consequences of indulgence, presenting a visual sermon on the dangers of excess.

ART MOVEMENTS
Northern Renaissance
LOOK CLOSER

What to Notice

1

The enormous, pot-bellied cook stirring a cauldron.

2

Small, imp-like figures scrambling around the main character.

3

Strange, elongated cooking utensils and vessels.

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Audio Deep Dive

Step into a bizarre kitchen where a monstrous cook oversees a chaotic feast of grotesque figures. This etching offers a vivid, cautionary tale about gluttony a…

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THE ARTIST
Hieronymus Bosch 1450–1516 · Northern Low Countries

Hieronymus Bosch, a Dutch painter from the Northern Low Countries, filled his oak panels with fantastic illustrations of religious concepts, from the Garden of Eden to macabre depictions of hell.

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