Dear Friends,

This new thread is dedicated to my Adland friend Kathleen VanBeekom, who kindly suggested me to reopen this forum. Not only that, she also suggested to feature Hieronymus Bosch, one of the greatest painters of all times. It was a great choice indeed, and a challenging one at that.

In effect, I had long wanted to feature Bosch (ca. 1450-1516), also known as El Bosco, in this forum; he was the first and foremost painter of the Northern Renaissance period, and one of my best favorites ever. But sheer lack of time and the difficulty in selecting a particular painting from his vast catalog of precious masterworks – other than his fabulous triptych The Garden of Heavenly Delights, featured here – kept me from it. In the end, I have ignored the latter consideration and opted for featuring his Garden anyway.

So this actually is a very special occasion for me, as after my very long “vacation” I am at last able to feature this legendary master.

In a way, this is a continuation of the Northern Renaissance presentation whose most characteristic figure, Albrecht Dürer, the German painter and engraver, has already been featured in this forum. But here ends all resemblance between these two great artists, as Flemish Bosch emerges unique in the history of painting with his eerie, enigmatic art – a strong and absolutely original art which owes nothing to any other artist, characterized by apocalyptic scenes of Heaven and Hell (or the Golden and Iron Ages of the Classical Tradition?) in such masterworks as The Last Judgement’s left wing, central panel, and right wing (in Vienna), and in his other version of it (see HERE); The Hay Wain’s central panel and its left and right wings (Museo del Prado); Paradise and Hell’s left and right wings (the only extant panels of a probable tryptich); and of course all three panels of The Garden of Earthly Delights, including its back painting (known as God creating the Earth) when closed (see below).

By large the most famous and celebrated of his master pieces, Bosch's Garden is indeed the epitome of his whole production. I will not attempt to dig into its meaning, since over the last centuries, tons of ink and paper have been spent to that end. But rather than just apocalyptic scenes of Heaven and Hell, on the left and right wings I can perceive echoes of the Golden and Iron ages of the Classical tradition, or – what is the same – the idyllic Past and dreadful Future of mankind; while on the long and chaotic Present between those ages, fantastically depicted by Bosch on the central panel, one may hear resonances of the Silver and Bronze ages of the same tradition. I am talking of a prophetic vision such as the biblical prophets Elias, Ezekiel and Daniel might have; and remember that Bosch was “talking” of a present that is our past, and of a future that is our present. As to the Earth featured on the outer wings, so evocative of the post-Deluge account, it only adds a key element to a conception of history ruled by the notion of cyclic ages; for the rest, it is almost identical to certain archetypical images of the most diverse origin – notably in the Buddhist and Celtic iconographies, where such notion was ever present.

Other great favorites by Bosch include The Ship of Fools, St. John on Patmos, The Marriage at Cana(Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam), The Seven Deadly Sins (Prado, Madrid), Crucifixion(Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels), The Cure of Folly, Death and the Miser (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness, The Temptation of Saint Anthony(Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon), The Adoration of the Magi (Prado), and Christ Carrying the Cross (Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent). NOTE: Bosch’s graphic works are not considered in this thread.

GREAT MASTERS OF PAINTING

The Garden of Earthly Delights (1a) (Click HERE for the enlarged left wing) (Click HERE for the enlarged central panel) (Click HERE for the enlarged right wing) (Click on both the above and below images to enlarge) The outer wings (“God creating the Earth”) (1b) by Hieronymus Bosch born circa 2 October 1453, 's Hertogenbosch (modern Netherlands) died circa August 9, 1516, 's Hertogenbosch

Profile (2)

Hieronymus Bosch, born Jeroen Anthoniszoon van Aken, was an Early Netherlandish painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The artist's work is well-known for the use of fantastic imagery to illustrate moral and religious concepts and narratives.

Hieronymus Bosch is known for his enigmatic panels illustrating complex religious subjects with fantastic, often demonic imagery.

The documents about Bosch indicate that he followed the predictable life of a prominent Roman Catholic artist in 's Hertogenbosch, a provincial but prosperous town located in the modern Netherlands close to the Belgian border. His father and grandfather were both painters in the same town before him, and apparently Bosch lived all his life there. He married a local woman and joined the lay organization of the Confraternity of Notre Dame. Bosch was responsible for designing a stained-glass window, among several other works, for the town church. His art was well known outside 's Hertogenbosch during his lifetime.

References to astrology, folklore, witchcraft, and alchemy, in addition to the theme of the Antichrist and episodes from the lives of exemplary saints, are all woven together by Bosch into a labyrinth of late medieval Christian iconography. Scholars differ in their interpretation of Bosch's art, but most agree that his pictures show a preoccupation with the human propensity for sin in defiance of God, as well as with God's eternal damnation of lost souls in hell as a fateful consequence of human folly.

Stylistically, Bosch worked in a manner called alla prima, a method of applying paint freely on a preliminary ground of brownish paint. He was familiar with Dutch manuscript paintings and with foreign prints, and many of his images can be traced to these sources.

Dated works by Bosch do not exist and, of those panels that bear his signature, many might have been by followers. His pictures were widely imitated well into the later 16th century. During the 1550s, a veritable Boschian revival occurred in Antwerp that involved artists such as Pieter Huys and even Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who openly made variations of his paintings. Descriptions of some of his works were written by 16th-century Spanish nobleman Don Felipe Guevara. Among other sources, these have aided modern art historians in determining Bosch's authentic works.

Technical data (3)

The Garden of Earthly Delights
Oil on panel, central panel: 220 x 195 cm,
wings: 220 x 97 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
British Museum, London

(1a) This image is a courtesy of Web Gallery of Art.

(1b) This image is a courtesy of The Artchive.

(2) Source: CGFA (Encarta-based), Wikipedia.

(3) Source: Web Gallery of Art.

Thank you, Luis Miguel!

I've been very intrigued with Bosch since I first saw his work, probably when I was a child.  He's very interesting and different than other artists of his time, his art looks like it could have been done recently.  I see the obvious Dutch influence in some of the paintings such as The Marriage at Cana, but his style is very unique.  I really liked The Seven Deadly Sins, thanks for posting all the links to other paintings! 

Thanks also for all the time and work you put into your posts, it is greatly appreciated!  Bosch is very though-provoking, I'd say "IS" because his work still IS thought-provoking, somewhat disturbing and captivating in the way that people keep looking at it even though they think they may not want to. 

Dear Kathleen,

It's I who must thank you for your kind and constant encouragement. Were it not for you, I would most likely not have put this thread today (or ever) and this great painter, actually my greatest favorite, would have maybe continued to elude me and this forum forever.

I would like to add that I had considered featuring some other work by Bosch than his Garden, maybe his lesser known Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, which I have always loved the most for the charming atmosphere of its beautiful and at the same time intriguing landscape and, above all, for the thoughtful but not less charming stance of the saintly character that dominates the scene (maybe because of the beautiful saffron color of his robe?) in spite of being unobtrusively reclined on the foreground. To note is the perfect equilibrium of the composition in spite of the multiple unusual elements in it; but this is another story, and to know what all those intriguing elements mean we would need to be familiar with symbols from a past age.

Hieronymus Bosch - Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness

However, I am very happy that I finally decided to feature Bosch's Garden anyway, among other reasons, because it has let me express my beliefs as to the meaning of its apocalyptic imagery; and at any rate, because that wonderful tryptic is the sum and compendium, indeed the crown jewel, of Bosch's fabulous work.

Best Wishes,

Luis Miguel Goitizolo

Hi again LM!

Maybe you would have posted Bosch eventually without being prodded but sometimes it does take a push to get us to do something we were procrastinating about.  I'll get my son in here later, he was reading a book about Bosch a few months ago and greatly enjoys the unusual detailings. I noticed Bosch died on Jayson's birthday, that's a coincidence!

Luis and indeed Kathleen,

Thank you.

Bosch's work is a fascinating subject. We forget so often just how relatively primitive life was all those centuries ago.

Life was hard and artists like Bosch didn't really have the freedom to express themselves without some required expectation from those who comissioned or supported, however, the sheer detail, imagination and of course technical skill is stunning to say the least.

The very european figures and scenes are so very special and remind us of how important art was in bringing the christian messages, in a way it would mean something to those lucky enough to be the viewers.

When I look at many portraits painted in the next century the have a flatness about them. The figures here, although strangely medieval, have enormous character.

Pain and fear are particularly disturbing in their eerie nature. The way that he is able to include so much detail yet focus the eye upon the important images is legendry.

A huge pleasure and a memory jogger for me. It is a long time since I looked at his work. I am glad that I did.
thank you.

Roger