Jheronimus Bosch: The Conjurer (1502)

(Musée Municipal, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France)

A well known painting by the Dutch artist Jheronimus Bosch (1450-1516). A conjurer to the right i playing a game of cups and balls. The central figure leans in and is fixed on the pearl in the conjurer's hand. By doing that he is unaware that he being robbed by the person on the left who is taking the money purse of the central figure - notice how one of the people in the audience is pointing to the robber. The painting is based upon the proverbs "He who lets himself be fooled by conjuring tricks loses his money and becomes the laughing stock of children" and "No one is so much a fool as a willful fool."  Painting from 1502.