closer in the foreground, with other weapons and pieces of the suit of armor. The room is seen through a pointed archway flanked with columns, but the foreground appears to be outdoors. It is unknown what sort of structure the room is attached to, if any. Subject and Interpretation Death and the Miser combines different timelines into a single scene. It depicts the final moments of man called a miser, a hoarder of wealth, or an usurer, who gives loans while profiting from an often unfair interest rate. It's widely accepted that the old man in green is a slightly younger version of the miser, in full health, storing gold in his money chest (which abounds with demons) while clutching his rosary, indicating both his desire for piety and wealth. Usury was considered immoral and a great sin (a "sin against justice") in the early Renaissance period, mentioned specifically in the Bible in Luke 6:35, where Christ recommends free lending rather than profiting from the issuance of a loan. Medieval Church law followed these instructions and denounced usury as a practice and excommunicated members for it until the Council of 1516 passed montes pietatis (mount of piety), which stated that charitable institutions were allowed to issue low interest rate loans to the poor. This law implies that usury was not often practiced, but the opposite is true, and many people, poor and well-to-do alike, could not survive without a loan at some point in their lives. It became so common that authorities developed a modus vivendi, or agreement to peaceful coexistence, with pawnbrokers, then known as lombards (named after the region of their origin). It became so common and legal that they were regulated by authorities until a more fair and stable public loan policy was established in 1618.The scene is highly reminiscent of an earlier illustration in the Ars moriendi where a dying man is cautioned about his avarice in chapters nine and ten of the book. In chapter nine, the man is tempted by avarice (greed) upon his deathbed, with his wealth shown by expensive treasures, similar to the trunk at the foot of the bed in Bosch's painting. In chapter ten, an angel warns him of the dangers of avarice, telling the miser, "Protect yourself against the putrid and deadly words of the devil, for he is nothing but a liar… In the end everything he does