Here is something that has long bothered me. The picture set out below is by Bosch. On any occasion on which I have read an accompanying descriptive text it has suggested that the picture portrays a pilgrim (signified by the spoon). He has passed a house of ill-repute (depicted in the background) and has turned his back on its temptations. He is haggard because pilgrimage is a struggle. The first time I read this interpretation it was a complete surprise to me because I had read the picture in a completely different way.
The “pilgrim” struck me as gazing shiftily over his shoulder. Why would he do that? The answer is that he has just stolen a piglet. You can see a trotter sticking out from his jacket. There are piglets out side the inn he has passed and a dog next to them barks to alert the house owners to the theft. Rather than a commentary on virtue I saw it as a dig at hypocrisy and the wrapping of bad deeds in religious fervour.
