Hieronymus Bosch

BOSCH, Hieronymus (Jerome)

Header Photo: The Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1503 (Detail from Central Panel).
© Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Hieronymus Bosch belonged to the Brotherhood of the Holy Virgin

Hieronymus Bosch, also called van Aeken. Netherlands painter. Documentary evidence connects him at various periods between 1480 and 1516 with his birthplace Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), where he belonged to the Brotherhood of the Holy Virgin; he designed the stained-glass windows and a crucifix for the Chapel of the Brotherhood (1511) and was presumably a highly respected member of the community. He was referred to at his death as the 'famous artist', which is borne out by a commission in 1504 for a Last Judgment by Philip the Handsome of Burgundy.

Bosch was a religious painter with a strong bent towards satire, pessimistic comment and great interest in everyday life. This has made his work, a unity in form and content, one of the last profound expressions of the medieval world view. Landscape plays an important part in his compositions, it sets the mood and it is seen with directness. Religious iconography is reinterpreted freely in the mood of popular prints, and the unbridled fantasy of the artist explores, not so much the world of the subconscious but every thematic variation, allusion and symbol available to his contemporaries.

These were not puzzle pictures in their time, but picture books which could be read and understood. Only when the tradition and the understanding were lost did they increasingly require interpretation of some kind, until in our own time, with the advent of Surrealism, attempts have been made to 'explain' Bosch by means of dream analysis. He was also referred to as a heretic by later generations.

It is impossible to date and arrange his work in chronological sequence as much of his original work is now lost, many copies were made in his lifetime and even his signature forged. The Haywain and The Garden of Delights are triptychs fully authenticated and so is the table panel of the Escorial, which once belonged to Philip II as one of his intimate possessions. Other important paintings by Bosch are: Christ Mocked, and a portrayal of the Ship of Fools, a common contemporary theme.

Hieronymus Bosch
The Ascent of the Blessed
Detail from a Panel of an Altarpiece
Thought to be of the Last Judgement
c.1490