Art

Hieronymus Bosch

c. 1450–1516 · Netherlandish (Dutch)

Early Netherlandish painting

Hieronymus Bosch was a Netherlandish painter from 's-Hertogenbosch whose teeming, nightmarish visions of sin, temptation and hell are unlike anything else in art. His moralising triptychs, above all The Garden of Earthly Delights, were prized by Philip II of Spain and later hailed as forerunners of Surrealism.

How to spot them

▸Crowded panoramas of tiny naked figures, hybrid monsters, giant fruit, birds and bizarre musical instruments
▸Triptychs moving from Eden on the left to a burning, torture-filled hell on the right
▸Quiz clue: 'Den Bosch', 'Prado', 'Philip II', 'Brotherhood of Our Lady', 'proto-Surrealist'

Key works

The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1490–1510)

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Triptych: Eden, a garden of sensual pleasures, and a musical hell; the closed wings show the Creation of the world

Image: Hieronymus Bosch · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

The Haywain Triptych (c. 1516)

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Humanity scrambles for hay (worldly goods) on a cart pulled towards hell

Image: Hieronymus Bosch or workshop · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Triptych of the Temptation of St Anthony (c. 1501)

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon

The Desert Father beset by fantastical demons

Image: Hieronymus Bosch · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Ship of Fools (c. 1490–1500)

Louvre, Paris

Fragment of a lost triptych satirising gluttony and clerical folly; its lower part is at Yale

Image: Hieronymus Bosch · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Quick-fire facts

•His real name was Jheronimus (Joen) van Aken; he took his name from his home town, 's-Hertogenbosch
•He was a sworn member of the Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady in 's-Hertogenbosch
•Philip II of Spain was an avid collector of his work, which is why the Prado holds so many of his paintings
•The Garden of Earthly Delights title is modern; the Dutch title means 'The Garden of Lusts'
•Only about 25 paintings are confidently attributed to him
•The Surrealists, including Salvador Dalí, regarded him as a forerunner
•Pieter Bruegel the Elder was strongly influenced by his imagery

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Sources

Museo del Prado — The Garden of Earthly Delights
Encyclopaedia Britannica — Hieronymus Bosch