The swans

In a landscape of fantastic beauty, a swan emerges from the water. But it is not just any animal, but the symbol of the spiritual brotherhood to which Bosch belonged: a strange society that occupied itself with the organisation of sacred representations and impressive processions, in which hellish choreographies and macabre dances abounded. Its followers were known as the “brothers of the swan”, and they were allowed to hunt as long as they offered their catch to the rest of the group. Being accepted was not easy and the painter was accepted on artistic merit. Be that as it may, and without diminishing the traditions, we have preferred to take them not to our mouths, but to our ears.