Hieronymus Bosch's Hell
Tony Lea
I have a question regarding a work of art by the Flemish painter
Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 - 1516), who specialized in the depiction of
allegorical fables.
My particular question involves his depiction of Hell on a panel of the
triptych "The Garden of Earthly Delights" which can be seen at the website:
http://www.yawp.com/cjackson/bosch/p-bosch28.htm
I have never heard any of the stories to which the strange cast of
characters and figures in this painting refer. Are any of them known to
modern art historians or medievalists?
Kate
I have been intrigued by this work since I first saw it in the Prado museum in
Madrid almost 20 years ago. For some reason his work always reminded me of
some of the dreamlike Dali paintings. I understand that Bosch was something
of a stern moralist although this painting in many ways celebrates that which
he may have sought to condemn. King Philip II of Spain collected Bosch's
works and they were displayed at his palace near Madrid where Brother Jose de
Siquenza was the librarian in the late 1500's. For a semi-contemporary
interpretation of Bosch's The Garden of Delights you might look at Siquenza's
"History of St. Jerome" where he attempts to interpret it. I don't think
there exists a definative analysis of this work and he remains the subject of
much disagreement in art history circles.
Perhaps those more knowledgable can provide better information.
Kate
wayne cohen
> Kate
If I remember correctly Norman Cohn in his great book Pursuit of the
Millenium presents the view Bosch belonged to an underground (but very
large ) called the 'Bretheren or something. Perhaps the index can help.
Good Luck. -wayne
hw...@hotmail.com
In article <3519b...@nemo.idirect.com>,
fr...@idirect.com (Tony Lea) wrote:
>
> I have a question regarding a work of art by the Flemish painter
> Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 - 1516), who specialized in the depiction of
> allegorical fables.
> My particular question involves his depiction of Hell on a panel of the
> triptych "The Garden of Earthly Delights" which can be seen at the website:
>
> http://www.yawp.com/cjackson/bosch/p-bosch28.htm
>
> I have never heard any of the stories to which the strange cast of
> characters and figures in this painting refer. Are any of them known to
> modern art historians or medievalists?
An awful lot of crap has been written about the 'hidden meanings'
which are supposedly to be found in Bosch's work, but it is best
examined within his late medieval artistic context. I have a
Thames and Hudson volume on Bosch which finds parallels between
his art and other art of the period, especially manuscript
marginalia and grotesques. The hare in the bottom left of the
Hell panel in 'Earthly Delights' who is blowing a hunter's horn
and carrying the corpse of a man is a joke often found in
marginalia. Other elements come from Dutch proverbs or are
Boschian spins on established artistic topoi. Be wary of any
analysis which claims Bosch was encoding heretical messages
or the member of a 'secret society'. He was a member of a
lay devotional confraternity, but so were thousands of other
perfectly orthodox, devout Catholics at the time. I'll see if
I can dig up some reliable analysis of Bosch for you and post
the bibliographical info.
Cheers,
Tim O'Neill
Tasmanian Devil
(I like the Temptation of St Anthony better - much weirder
demons.)
>
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Jonathan Hendry
Tony Lea <fr...@idirect.com> wrote:
> I have never heard any of the stories to which the strange cast of
> characters and figures in this painting refer. Are any of them known to
> modern art historians or medievalists?
Some days, I would swear those characters are walking around here in
Chicago. Every so often, it's a Hieronymous Bosch Day.
- Jon
Paul J. Gans
Jazzman797
>Subject: Hieronymus Bosch's Hell
>From: fr...@idirect.com (Tony Lea)
>Date: Wed, Mar 25, 1998 20:59 EST
>Message-id: <3519b...@nemo.idirect.com>
Tony wrote:
I have a question regarding a work of art by the Flemish painter
Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 - 1516), who specialized in the depiction of
allegorical fables.
My particular question involves his depiction of Hell on a panel of the
triptych "The Garden of Earthly Delights" which can be seen at the
website:.......
I have never studied Bosch. According to_ Art Through The Ages_ (Harcourt,
Brace and World Inc) which I sometimes refer to, they state the varied
interpretations of his work differ widely. I'll simply key in verbatim:
"Was he a satirist or an irreligious mocker? Was he a pornographer? Was he a
heretic or an orthodox fanatic like Savonarola? Was he obsessed by guilt and
the universal reign of sin and death? Certainly his art is born from the dark
pessimism of his age, burdened with the fear of human fate, with the conviction
that man's doom is approaching.
Much more difficult to understand are Bosch's large alterpieces, which are
packed with obscure meaning and symbolism. But even if we may not fully
understand his teeming fantasies, we can appreciate the incredible scope of an
imagination that makes him the poet of the nightmarish subconscious. The
dreaming and waking worlds are one in Bosch as he draws upon the tradition of
beast and monster that we have followed from Mesopotamia to the Gothic
gargoyle.
His most famous work, the so-called Garden of Earthly Delights, is also his
most puzzling, and no interpretation of it is universally accepted. The left
wing of the triptych shows the birth of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve here is
not the mother of mankind, as she is in Jan van Eych's Ghent Altarpiece, but
rather the seductress whose temptation of Adam resulted in the original sin,
the central theme of the main panel. Evil lurks even in Bosch's paradise; a
central fountain of life is surrounded by ravens, the traditional symbols for
non-believers and magicians, while an owl hiding in the dark hole in the
fountain's center represents witchcraft and sorcery. The central panel swarms
with the frail nude figures of men and women sporting licentiously in a
panoramic landscape that is studded with fantastic growths of a quasisexual
form. Bosch seems to show erotic temptation and sensual gratification as a
universal disaster, the human race, as a consequence of original sin,
succumbing to its naturally base disposition. The subjects are derived in part
from three major sources: Medieval bestiaries, Flemish proverbs, and the then
very popular dream books, all mixed in the melting pot of Bosch's astoundingly
inventive imagination. In addition, there are frequent allusions to magic and
alchemy, and animal and vegetable forms are mingled in the most absurd
combinations. Symbols are scatttered plentifully throughout the panel: fruit
for carnal pleasure, eggs for alchemy and sex, the rat for falsehood and lies,
dead fish for memories of past joys. A couple in a glass globe may illustrate
the proverb "Good fortune, like glass, is easily broken." To many of Bosch's
symbols we have lost the key, but it may be assumed that they were well enough
known to his contemporaries.
In the right panel, the fruits of license are gathered in hell. There sinful
mankind undergoes hideous torments to diabolic music, while the hellish
landscape burns. This symphony of damnation apparently comments on the
wickedness of music, with which the Devil lures souls away from God. In this
context the ears and the musical instruments would represent the erotic,
soul-destroying thoughts engendered by music. A man is crucified on a harp,
another shut up in a drum. A gambler is nailed to his own table. A girl is
embraced by a spidery monster and bitten by toads. The observer must search
through the hideous enclosure of Bosch's hell to take in its fascinating
through repulsive details.
The triptych as a whole may thus represent the false paradise of this world
between Eden and hell. But this is only one interpretation. Another has it
that Bosch belonged to a secret, heretical sect, the Adamites, and that the
central panel was thought of as a kind of altarpiece celebrating symbolically
its rites and practices. Whatever the case, mankind does not appear to
advantage in the art of H. Bosch. Abandoned to evil by the Fall, man merits
hell."
Regards,
Rowena
Jazzm...@aol.com
hw...@hotmail.com
In article <6feug5$l8p$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
hw...@hotmail.com wrote:
> An awful lot of crap has been written about the 'hidden meanings'
> which are supposedly to be found in Bosch's work, but it is best
> examined within his late medieval artistic context. I have a
> Thames and Hudson volume on Bosch which finds parallels between
> his art and other art of the period, especially manuscript
> marginalia and grotesques ... I'll see if
> I can dig up some reliable analysis of Bosch for you
> and post the bibliographical info.
Try starting with Walter S. Gibson, *Hieronymus Bosch* (Thames and
Hudson: London, 1973).
It is also worth keeping in mind that many of Bosch's
images may not have 'meanings' at all. Most do, but
examination of his sketches and notebooks shows that
the man clearly had a fascination with the grotesque
and enjoyed creating visual fantasy.
Tim O'Neill
Tasmanian Devil
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
Wayne B. Hewitt
It's unfortunate that Bosch, Mattias Grünewald, and Albrecht Dürer were,
in some views, the last of their kind: unique, talented, and
idiosyncratic. The powerful forces of both the Reformation and
Counter-refomation put an end to much new and different Art.
--
Barbarossa ;^{>
Encinitas, California
Dan Meehan
In article <whewitt-3003...@whewitt.extern.ucsd.edu> whe...@ucsd.edu (Wayne B. Hewitt) writes:
>From: whe...@ucsd.edu (Wayne B. Hewitt)
>Subject: Re: Hieronymus Bosch, et.al.
>Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 12:07:11 -0800
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Donald Tucker
Wayne B. Hewitt (whe...@ucsd.edu) writes:
> It's unfortunate that Bosch, Mattias Grünewald, and Albrecht Dürer were,
> in some views, the last of their kind: unique, talented, and
> idiosyncratic. The powerful forces of both the Reformation and
> Counter-refomation put an end to much new and different Art.
Why would this happen? Could it perhaps be explained by the
idea that the late Medieval era was one where art patrons
did not feel that they had to make their artists conform
to a specific religious doctrine or ideology and that the
Early Modern patrons felt threatened by non-conformity
to the views that prevailed in their region?
Donald ___,__<@~__,___ World history; Alternate history FAQs
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