Patrons

In 1475 there was consultation between the famous statue carver Adriaen van Wesel and Anthonius van Aken “and his sons” on a new retable to be created for the chapel of the Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady in St John's. Two years later Van Wesel had finished the carving. In 1488-1489, Jheronimus painted the panels that shut off the retable. For subjects they chose the saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, who were both worshipped as patron saints of the church.
Recent studies have shown that under the enormous thistle next to John the Baptist a kneeling man had been painted. Most likely, this was then provost (chairman) of the Brotherhood: Jan van Vladeracken.

The side panels of the triptych Adoration of the Magi showed a patron and his wife with their respective coats of arms and name saints. This coat of arms and the motto ‘One for all’ that is written next to the man on the left panel allows us to identify him as Peeter Scheyfve, a successful cloth merchant from Antwerp. Scheyfve was married four times. Saint Agnes on the far right indicates that the second wife Agnes de Gramme is depicted here. This identification also makes it possible to date the painting. Scheyfve’s first wife died in 1491 and Agnes de Gramme died no later than 1498. From this information we can conclude that the painting must have been made between 1491 and 1498.
In older literature it is asserted that the family coats of arms on the left and on the right belong to the families Van Bronckhorst and Van Bosschuysen. After all, as can be concluded from an archive document, in 1567 a triptych was confiscated by the Duke of Alba: ‘ung tableau des Trois Rois faict par Jeronimus Bossche, sevrant à deux huys ayans par dehors les armes de Bronckhorst et Bosschuyse’. But these coats of arms do not match those of the families mentioned here. Moreover, the coats of arms of the Van Bronckhorst and Van Bosschuyse families were on the rear (‘Par dehors’) of the triptych, while on the Prado triptych they are shown on the inside. So undoubtedly this is a lost triptych with a similar picture.

On 30 July 1517, a traveller saw the triptych Garden of Earthly Delights in the palace of the Van Nassau family. Most likely a member of the Van Nassau family commissioned the work from Bosch. That might have been Engelbert II of Nassau, who died in 1504, or his successor Henry III of Nassau. Engelbert II was a confidant of Duke Philip the Handsome, a great admirer of Bosch. They were both present in 1481 at the 14th Chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece, held at St John's in 's‑Hertogenbosch. Duke Henry III was present in that city since 1513 as commander-in-chief in the battle against the Guelders.

In 1504, Duke Philip the Handsome commissioned Bosch to make a large Last Judgment. The stated dimensions of nine by eleven feet (± 249 x 304 cm) do not match the remaining triptychs by Bosch.

A museum in Boston preserves an Ecce Homo in the style of Bosch. Patron was Pieter van Os, sworn brother and town clerk. Although the painting is not considered an original, it is very possible that it was created in Bosch's studio. 

Patrons, painted over or remaining, can be seen on the triptych of the Crucifixion of St Julia, on a Crucifixion with a Donor and the Ecce Homo. So far, none of them has been identified.