Bosch's staged painting showcases a Renaissance-era penchant for original concepts and complex, encoded content, the full meaning of which could only be revealed to a restricted audience. But even those who were able to view his works had trouble fully deciphering the artist's images. And they still pose a mystery to art historians today.
The morals and statements in Bosch's works are often ambiguous. But human flaws such as anger, foolishness, greed, lust, gluttony, and others play a significant role. When interpreting works of art, it is often helpful to look at the time in which the work was created. In the case of Bosch, it is an age when people believed in the reality of the devil and hell. They were convinced that Satan would appear and that the Last Judgment would follow him with absolute certainty in the near or distant future. The drama of human sin and folly could only be understood by Bosch and his contemporaries as an expression of Lucifer and his henchmen, who were constantly trying to deceive humanity. Some authors reported that the prophecies of the apocalypse would soon be fulfilled in the world, with plagues, floods and other natural disasters coming.
In his pictures, Bosch also takes an interest in everyday human life. He expresses his disapproval of special estates and classes, criticizes swindlers (The juggler), vicious monks and nuns (The Garden of Delights), quacks and their gullible victims (The stone cutter) or the well-to-do man for whom his wealth is more important than his soul (Death of a curmudgeon). These are all topics that can be found in sermons of the time, proverbs and songs with a moral and didactic focus, as well as in satirical writings. The salvation of the Christian believer should not take place outside the world, but within it through honest living and honest work.