Hieronymus Bosch's Death and the Miser, which might have been one portion of a triptych, illustrates the ars moriendi, or the “Art of Dying,” a popular theme at this time. Death, in the form of a skeleton, comes to claim a miser’s soul in his last moments. Despite the urging of an angel, who places his hand protectively on the dying man’s shoulder, he may be unable to resist the bag of gold and other worldly treasures proffered by the demons scattered throughout the room.