Hieronymus Bosch

's-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands)

His artist's name "Bosch" derives from this town.

💡 Did you know? Bosch named himself after his home town of 's-Hertogenbosch; his family name was actually van Aken.

around 1450 to 1516

Bosch lived at the turn from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in the Burgundian Netherlands.

💡 Did you know? Almost nothing is known of his life: no letters, no diaries, not even a certain self-portrait.

fantastic, nightmarish images

Bosch's imagery teems with demons, hybrid creatures and grotesque torments of hell: unique in his time.

💡 Did you know? Written music was even discovered in one of his hell scenes.

religious themes (sin and salvation)

Behind the fantastical scenes lie sin, temptation and the Last Judgment.

💡 Did you know? Whether Bosch meant to preach piously or mock secretly is still debated today.

Surrealism

Only in the 20th century was he greatly celebrated again.

💡 Did you know? Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists saw in Bosch's dream imagery their own art foreshadowed 400 years in advance.

1516

Astonishingly little is recorded about his life.

💡 Did you know? For the 500th anniversary of his death in 2016, his globally scattered works returned to his home town for a one-off exhibition.

The Garden of Earthly Delights

A huge triptych: from paradise through earthly delights to hell.

💡 Did you know? On the hell panel of the „Garden of Earthly Delights“ a tune is painted on a backside: musicians have actually played it.

Ship of Fools

Painted around 1500.

💡 Did you know? „The Ship of Fools“ mocks clergy and gluttony: a monk and a nun bawl away among the revellers.

Temptation of Saint Anthony

Painted around 1501.

💡 Did you know? In Bosch's hands the hermit Anthony is besieged by a whole army of grotesque demons: a favourite theme of the painter.

The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things

Painted around 1500.

💡 Did you know? At the centre gazes the „Eye of God“ with the warning „Beware, beware, God sees.“

The Haywain Triptych

A triptych about human greed (the haywain as symbol).

💡 Did you know? Everyone grabs greedily at the hay (after the Flemish proverb): the world is a haystack and each takes what he can.

Christ Carrying the Cross

Painted around 1500.

💡 Did you know? Christ's calm face is ringed by a wreath of leering heads: good amid evil.

The Wayfarer

Painted around 1500.

💡 Did you know? The ragged wayfarer looks back at a ruined inn: an emblem of life's toilsome road.

Death and the Miser

Painted around 1480.

💡 Did you know? Even as he dies the miser reaches for gold, while Death is already entering at the door.

Cutting the Stone

Painted around 1503.

💡 Did you know? A quack „operates“ to remove supposed folly: yet a flower, not a stone, grows from the head.

The Epiphany

Painted around 1494.

💡 Did you know? Even in the Adoration scene sinister figures already lurk in the background, with Bosch nothing is untroubled.

The Last Judgment

Painted around 1450.

💡 Did you know? On the right panel Bosch unfolds a veritable panopticon of infernal torture machines.

Hieronymus Bosch

Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 to 1516) was a Netherlandish painter whose fantastical, demon-filled imagery still fascinates and puzzles today.

💡 Did you know? Bosch signed only a few works; many attributions are still disputed, and forgeries circulated even in his own day.