LLEI D'ART 10

themes The Deadly Sins (I) In this article, we will use Hieronymus Bosch’s The Seven Deadly Sins to document and intro- duce a theme that will take up a number of chap- ters; Bosch’s piece was chosen as a work that best represents the theme amongst many other works by great painters that have depicted the topic. I will look at the topic from the beginnings of the spread of Christian morality, developing each of the former and broadening the exhibition into other vices and their opposite virtues using a comparative dualism rooted in Western teach- ing as a base for the construction of our society. The term ‘deadly’ refers to the extreme ease with which this group of sins entraps a man into their webs. As St. Thomas Aquinas said: A deadly sin is that which has an excessively desirable end, so that in his desire a man may commit many sins, all of them can be said to be caused in that sin as its main source […] The deadly sins or vices are those that the fallen human nature is mainly inclined to. Although the list initially contained eight sins, as sadness was included as one, currently this is considered part of the basic emotions such as joy or surprise, even though many use it as a vice as a way to attract the attention of their follow- ers or the help of those institutions created to this end. It was the 6th century Pope Gregory the Great who revisited the matter and reduced the list to the current seven, considering that sad- ness was but a form of sloth. He also considered that the order should be modified, ordering them thus: lust, sloth, greed, wrath, envy, avarice and pride. One of the first and best artistic manifestations of vice and virtue was executed by Giotto di Bon- done (1267-1337) in the chapel of the Scrovegni family, also known as the Sand Chapel, in Padua. In the lower part of the wall, underneath the scenes from the life of Christ, Giotto painted 14 allegories of virtue and sin. The sins are on the left-hand wall, whilst the virtues can be found on the right-hand wall. The sins correspond with the left part of the main painting of the Final Judge- ment, where those sinners condemned to hell can be seen, in the same way that virtues are related to the right part of the painting, where the blessed appear. The message is clear: sin leads to hell, and virtue to salvation. 113