The Conjuror
Oil painting on wood panel • Hieronymus Bosch (and workshop)
Style & Movement
Early Netherlandish Renaissance / Northern Renaissance
Medium & Technique
Oil on panel, executed with fine glazing and precise linear draftsmanship characteristic of Early Netherlandish painting techniques
Creation Period
c. 1475-1505
Dimensions & Format
53 cm x 65 cm (approximate dimensions of the original in the Municipal Museum, Saint-Germain-en-Laye), horizontal landscape format
Subject Description
A genre scene depicting a conjuror or trickster performing the cup and balls game for a rapt, gullible audience of townspeople. A peasant leans in closely, distracted by the trick, while a pickpocket stealthily picks the peasant's pocket from behind. The composition highlights human folly, gullibility, and deception.
Condition & Value Assessment
Condition Assessment
Good, based on the historical museum-preserved state of the original work featuring stabilized craquelure and minor historic restorations
Estimated Market Value
Museum-held masterpiece; estimated value exceeds $50,000,000 if ever brought to the private market
Auction Estimate
Not applicable as the work is held in a public institutional collection, though comparable works by follower circles command multi-million figures
Provenance History
Passed through various private collections before entering the collection of the Musée Municipal de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France)
Art Historical Significance
One of Bosch's earliest surviving secular genre paintings, notable for pioneering social satire and moralizing depictions of everyday human weaknesses and street life rather than purely religious subjects
Notable Features
The clever inclusion of a hidden pickpocket operating in plain sight while the crowd is mesmerized by the magician, showcasing Bosch's early mastery of psychological observation and moral narrative
Condition Issues
Age-related craquelure, historical surface abrasion, and previous minor retouching along panel joins typical of 15th-century wood panel paintings
Conservation Recommendations
Maintain stable museum environmental controls (temperature 20°C +/- 2°, relative humidity 50% +/- 5%), low-lux LED lighting, and periodic condition monitoring by professional conservators