Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch Remains: Buried, Hertogenbosch, North Brabant, Netherlands Gender: Male Nationality: Netherlands Executive summary: Painter of the grotesque Jerom Bosch is the name generally given, from his birthplace Hertogenbosch, to Hieronymus van Aeken, the Dutch painter. He was probably a pupil of Albert Ouwater, and may be called the Breughel of the 15th century, for he devoted himself to the invention of bizarre types, diableries, and scenes of the kind generally associated with Breughel, whose art is to a great extent based on Bosch's. He was a satirist much in advance of his time, and one of the most original and ingenious artists of the 15th century. He exercised great influence on Lucas Cranach, who frequently copied his paintings. His works were much admired in Spain, especially by Philip II., at whose court Bosch painted for some time. One of his chief works is the "Last Judgment" at the Berlin gallery, which also owns a little "St. Jerome in the Desert." "The Fall of the Rebellious Angels" and the "St.

Anthony" triptych are in the Brussels museum, and two important triptychs are at the Munich gallery. The Lippmann collection in Berlin contains an important "Adoration of the Magi", the Antwerp museum a "Passion", and a practically unknown painting from his brush is at the Naples museum. Father: Anthonius van Aken (painter, d. circa 1478) Do you know something we don't? Hieronymous Bosch Biography Hieronymous Bosch Biography Life Portrait Hieronymus Bosch, born Jeroen Anthonissen van Akeniwas born Jheronimus (or Jeroen) van Aken (meaning "from Aachen"). He signed a number of his paintings as Bosch (pronounced Boss in Dutch). The name derives from his birthplace, 's-Hertogenbosch, which is commonly called "Den Bosch". Little is known of Bosch's life or training. He left behind no letters or diaries, and what has been identified has been taken from brief references to him in the municipal records of 's-Hertogenbosch, and in the account books of the local order of the Brotherhood of Our Lady.

Nothing is known of his personality or his thoughts on the meaning of his art. Bosch's date of birth has not been determined with certainty. It is estimated at c. 1450 on the basis of a hand drawn portrait (which may be a self-portrait) made shortly before his death in 1516. The drawing shows the artist at an advanced age, probably in his late sixties. Bosch was born and lived all his life in and near 's-Hertogenbosch, the capital of the Dutch province of Brabant. His grandfather, Jan van Aken (died 1454), was a painter and is first mentioned in the records in 1430. It is known that Jan had five sons, four of whom were also painters. Bosch's father, Anthonius van Aken (died c. 1478) acted as artistic adviser to the Brotherhood of Our Lady. It is generally assumed that either Bosch's father or one of his uncles taught the artist to paint, however none of their works survive. Bosch first appears in the municipal record in 1474, when he is named along with two brothers and a sister.

Hertogenbosch was a flourishing city in fifteenth century Brabant, in the south of the present-day Netherlands. In 1463, 4,000 houses in the town were destroyed by a catastrophic fire, which the then (approximately) 13-year-old Bosch may have witnessed. He became a popular painter in his lifetime and often received commissions from abroad. In 1488 he joined the highly respected Brotherhood of Our Lady, an arch-conservative religious group of some 40 influential citizens of 's-Hertogenbosch, and 7,000 'outer-members' from around Europe. Some time between 1479 and 1481, Bosch married Aleyt Goyaerts van den Meerveen, who was a few years older than the artist. The couple moved to the nearby town of Oirschot, where his wife had inherited a house and land, from her wealthy family. An entry in the accounts of the Brotherhood of Our Lady records Bosch's death in 1516. A funeral mass served in his memory was held in the church of Saint John on 9th August of that year.

Art Paradise - Terrestrial Paradise Bosch produced several triptychs. Among his most famous is The Garden of Earthly Delights. This painting depicts paradise with Adam and Eve and many wondrous animals on the left panel, the earthly delights with numerous nude figures and tremendous fruit and birds on the middle panel, and hell with depictions of fantastic punishments of the various types of sinners on the right panel. When the exterior panels are closed the viewer can see, painted in grisaille, God creating the Earth. These paintings have a rough surface from the application of paint; this contrasts with the traditional Flemish style of paintings, where the smooth surface attempts to hide the fact that the painting is man-made. Bosch never dated his paintings and may have signed only some of them (other signatures are certainly not his). Fewer than 25 paintings remain today that can be attributed to him. Philip II of Spain acquired many of Bosch's paintings after the painter's death; as a result, the Prado Museum in Madrid now owns several of his works, including The Garden of Earthly Delights. Interpretation St. John on Patmos In earlier centuries it was often believed that Bosch's art was inspired by medieval heresies and obscure hermetic practices.

Others thought that his work was created merely to titillate and amuse, much like the "grotteschi" of the Italian Renaissance. While the art of the older masters was based in the physical world of everyday experience, Bosch confronts his viewer with, in the words of the art historian Walter Gibson, "a world of dreams [and] nightmares in which forms seem to flicker and change before our eyes." In the first known account of Bosch's paintings, in 1560 the Spaniard Felipe de Guevara wrote that Bosch was regarded merely as "the inventor of monsters and chimeras". In the early seventeenth century, the Dutch art historian Karel van Mander described Bosch's work as comprising "wondrous and strange fantasies"; however, he concluded that the paintings are "often less pleasant than gruesome to look at." In the twentieth century, scholars have come to view Bosch's vision as less fantastic, and accepted that his art reflects the orthodox religious belief systems of his age. His depictions of sinful humanity, his conceptions of Heaven and Hell are now seen as consistent with those of late medieval didactic literature and sermons.

Most writers attach a more profound significance to his paintings than had previously been supposed, and attempt to interpret it in terms of a late medieval morality. It is generally accepted that Bosch's art was created to teach specific moral and spiritual truths, and that the images rendered have precise and premeditated significance. According to Dirk Bax, Bosch's paintings often represent visual translations of verbal metaphors and puns drawn from both biblical and folkloric sources. However, some writers see Bosch as a proto-type medieval surrealist, and parallels are often made with the twentieth century Spanish artist Salvador Dali. Other writers attempt to interpret his imagery using the language of Freudian psychology. However such theses are commonly rejected; according to Gibson, "what we choose to call the libido was denounced by the medieval church as original sin; what we see as the expression of the subconscious mind was for the Middle Ages the promptings of God or the Devil." Debates on attribution Adoration of the Magi The exact number of Bosch's surviving works has been a subject of considerable debate. He signed only seven of his paintings, and there is uncertainty whether all the paintings once ascribed to him were actually from his hand.

It is known that from the early sixteenth century onwards numerous copies and variations of his paintings began to circulate. In addition, his style was highly influential, and was widely imitated by his numerous followers. Over the years, scholars have attributed to him fewer and fewer of the works once thought to be his, and today only 25 are definitively ascribed to him. (From Wikipedia) Hieronymus Bosch on ArtStack - art online Hieronymus Bosch ( /ˌhaɪ.əˈrɒnᵻməs ˈbɒʃ/ ; [1] Dutch: [ɦijeːˈroːnimɵz ˈbɔs] ; [2] born Jheronimus van Aken [3] [jeːˈroːnimɵs fɑn ˈaːkə(n)] ; [4] c. 1450 – 9 August 1516) was an Early Netherlandish painter . His work is known for its fantastic imagery, detailed landscapes, and illustrations of religious concepts and narratives.

[5] Within his lifetime his work was collected in the Netherlands, Austria, and Spain, and widely copied, especially his macabre and nightmarish depictions of hell. Little is known of Bosch's life, though there are some records. He spent most of it in the town of 's-Hertogenbosch , where he was born in his grandfather's house. The roots of his forefathers are in Nijmegen and Aachen (which is visible in his surname: Van Aken). His pessimistic and fantastical style cast a wide influence on northern art of the 16th century, with Pieter Bruegel the Elder being his best-known follower. His paintings have been difficult to translate from a modern point of view; attempts to associate instances of modern sexual imagery with fringe sects or the occult have largely failed. Today he is seen as a hugely individualistic painter with deep insight into humanity's desires and deepest fears. Attribution has been especially difficult; today only about 25 paintings are confidently given to his hand [6] along with 8 drawings. Approximately another half dozen paintings are confidently attributed to his workshop.

His most acclaimed works consist of a few triptych altarpieces, the most outstanding of which is The Garden of Earthly Delights . Contents Life[ edit ] Hieronymus Bosch was born Jheronimus (or Joen, [7] respectively the Latin and Middle Dutch form of the name "Jerome") van Aken (meaning "from Aachen "). He signed a number of his paintings as Jheronimus Bosch. [8] The name derives from his birthplace, 's-Hertogenbosch , which is commonly called "Den Bosch" ('the forest'). Little is known of Bosch's life or training. He left behind no letters or diaries, and what has been identified has been taken from brief references to him in the municipal records of 's-Hertogenbosch, and in the account books of the local order of the Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady . Nothing is known of his personality or his thoughts on the meaning of his art. Bosch's date of birth has not been determined with certainty. It is estimated at c. 1450 on the basis of a hand drawn portrait (which may be a self-portrait) made shortly before his death in 1516.

The drawing shows the artist at an advanced age, probably in his late sixties. [9] Bosch was born and lived all his life in and near 's-Hertogenbosch, a city in the Duchy of Brabant . His grandfather, Jan van Aken (died 1454), was a painter and is first mentioned in the records in 1430. It is known that Jan had five sons, four of whom were also painters. Bosch's father, Anthonius van Aken (died c. 1478), acted as artistic adviser to the Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady . [10] It is generally assumed that either Bosch's father or one of his uncles taught the artist to paint, but none of their works survive. [11] Bosch first appears in the municipal record on 5 April 1474, when he is named along with two brothers and a sister.

The Crucifixion of St Julia is attributed to Bosch's Middle period, c 1497 's-Hertogenbosch was a flourishing city in 15th-century Brabant , in the south of the present-day Netherlands, at the time part of the Burgundian Netherlands , and during its lifetime passing through marriage to the Habsburgs . In 1463, 4,000 houses in the town were destroyed by a catastrophic fire, which the then (approximately) 13-year-old Bosch presumably witnessed. He became a popular painter in his lifetime and often received commissions from abroad. In 1488 he joined the highly respected Brotherhood of Our Lady, an arch-conservative religious group of some 40 influential citizens of 's-Hertogenbosch, and 7,000 'outer-members' from around Europe. Sometime between 1479 and 1481, Bosch married Aleyt Goyaerts van den Meerveen, who was a few years his senior. The couple moved to the nearby town of Oirschot, where his wife had inherited a house and land from her wealthy family.

[12] An entry in the accounts of the Brotherhood of Our Lady records Bosch's death in 1516. A funeral mass served in his memory was held in the church of Saint John on 9 August of that year. [13] The Garden of Earthly Delights in the Museo del Prado in Madrid , c. 1495–1505, attributed to Bosch. Bosch produced at least sixteen triptychs, of which eight are fully intact, and another five in fragments. [14] Bosch's works are generally organized into three periods of his life dealing with the early works (c. 1470–1485), the middle period (c.1485–1500), and the late period (c. 1500 until his death). According to Stefan Fischer, thirteen of Bosch's surviving paintings were completed in the late period, with seven surviving paintings attributed to his middle period. [15] Bosch's early period is studied in terms of his workshop activity and possibly some of his drawings. Indeed he taught pupils in the workshop, who were influenced by him.

The recent dendrochronological investigation of the oak panels by the scientists at the Bosch Research and Conservation Project [16] led to a more precise dating of the majority of Bosch's paintings. [17] His most famous triptych is the The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1495–1505) whose outer panels are intended to bracket the main central panel between the Garden of Eden depicted on the left panel and the Last Judgment depicted on the right panel. It is attributed by Fischer as a transition painting rendered by Bosch from between his middle period and his late period. In the left hand panel God presents Eve to Adam ; innovatively God is given a youthful appearance. The figures are set in a landscape populated by exotic animals and unusual semi-organic hut-shaped forms. The central panel is a broad panorama teeming with socially engaged nude figures seemingly engaged in innocent, self-absorbed joy, as well as fantastical animals, oversized fruit and hybrid stone formations. [18] The right panel presents a hellscape; a world in which humankind has succumbed to the temptations of evil and is reaping eternal damnation. Set at night, the panel features cold colours, tortured figures and frozen waterways.

The nakedness of the human figures has lost any eroticism suggested in the central panel, [19] as large explosions in the background throw light through the city gate and spill onto the water in the panel's midground. [20] Bosch sometimes painted in a comparatively sketchy manner, contrasting with the traditional Flemish style of painting in which the smooth surface—achieved by the application of multiple transparent glazes—conceals the brushwork. Bosch's paintings with their rough surfaces, so called impasto painting, differed from the tradition of the great Netherlandish painters of the end of the 15th, and beginning of the 16th centuries, who wished to hide the work done and so suggest their paintings as more nearly divine creations. [21] Bosch did not date his paintings, but—unusual for the time—he seems to have signed several of them, although some signatures purporting to be his are certainly not. About 25 paintings remain today that can be attributed to him.

In the late sixteenth century, Philip II of Spain confiscated and acquired many of Bosch's paintings, including some probably commissioned and collected by Spaniards active in Bosch's hometown[ citation needed ]; as a result, the Prado Museum in Madrid now owns The Adoration of the Magi , The Garden of Earthly Delights , the tabletop painting of The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things and The Haywain Triptych . Painting materials[ edit ] Hieronymus Bosch painted his works mostly on oak panels using oil as a medium. Bosch's palette was rather limited and contained the usual pigments of his time. [22] He mostly used azurite for blue skies and distant landscapes, green copper based glazes and paints consisting of malachite or verdigris for foliage and foreground landscapes and lead-tin-yellow , ochres and red lake ( carmine or madder lake ) for his figures. [23] Interpretation[ edit ] The Owl's Nest. Pen and bistre on paper. 140 × 196 mm.

Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen In the 20th century, when changing artistic tastes made artists like Bosch more palatable to the European imagination, it was sometimes argued that Bosch's art was inspired by heretical points of view (e.g., the ideas of the Cathars and putative Adamites ) as well as by obscure hermetic practices. Again, since Erasmus had been educated at one of the houses of the Brethren of the Common Life in 's-Hertogenbosch, and the town was religiously progressive, some writers have found it unsurprising that strong parallels exist between the caustic writing of Erasmus and the often bold painting of Bosch. "Although the Brethren remained loyal to the Pope, they still saw it as their duty to denounce the abuses and scandalous behavior of many priests: the corruption which both Erasmus and Bosch satirised in their work". [24] Hell panel from The Garden of Earthly Delights . It is alleged that Bosch self-portrait is in the upper center at right under the "table".

Others, following a strain of Bosch-interpretation datable already to the 16th century, continued to think his work was created merely to titillate and amuse, much like the " grotteschi " of the Italian Renaissance . While the art of the older masters was based in the physical world of everyday experience, Bosch confronts his viewer with, in the words of the art historian Walter Gibson, "a world of dreams [and] nightmares in which forms seem to flicker and change before our eyes". In one of the first known accounts of Bosch's paintings, in 1560 the Spaniard Felipe de Guevara wrote that Bosch was regarded merely as "the inventor of monsters and chimeras ". In the early seventeenth century, the artist-biographer Karel van Mander described Bosch's work as comprising "wondrous and strange fantasies"; however, he concluded that the paintings are "often less pleasant than gruesome to look at". [25] In recent decades, scholars have come to view Bosch's vision as less fantastic, and accepted that his art reflects the orthodox religious belief systems of his age.

[26] His depictions of sinful humanity and his conceptions of Heaven and Hell are now seen as consistent with those of late medieval didactic literature and sermons. Most writers attach a more profound significance to his paintings than had previously been supposed, and attempt to interpret it in terms of a late medieval morality. It is generally accepted that Bosch's art was created to teach specific moral and spiritual truths in the manner of other Northern Renaissance figures, such as the poet Robert Henryson , and that the images rendered have precise and premeditated significance. According to Dirk Bax, Bosch's paintings often represent visual translations of verbal metaphors and puns drawn from both biblical and folkloric sources. [27] However, the conflict of interpretations that his works still elicit raises profound questions about the nature of "ambiguity" in art of his period. Latterly art historians have added a further dimension to the subject of ambiguity in Bosch's work, emphasizing ironic tendencies, for example in The Garden of Earthly Delights , both in the central panel (delights), [28] and the right panel (hell).

[29] They theorize that the irony offers the option of detachment, both from the real world and from the painted fantasy world, thus appealing to both conservative and progressive viewers. A 2012 study [30] on Bosch's paintings alleges that they actually conceal a strong nationalist consciousness, censuring the foreign imperial government of the Burgundian Netherlands , especially Maximilian Habsburg . By systematically superimposing images and concepts, the study asserts that Bosch also made his expiatory self-punishment, for he was accepting well-paid commissions from the Habsburgs and their deputies, and therefore betraying the memory of Charles the Bold . [31] Debates on attribution[ edit ] Christ Before Pilate, ca. 1520, one of the paintings with disputed attribution, in the Princeton University Art Museum which would date from Bosch's Late period of painting. The exact number of Bosch's surviving works has been a subject of considerable debate. His signature can be seen on only seven of his surviving paintings, and there is uncertainty whether all the paintings once ascribed to him were actually from his hand.

It is known that from the early 16th century onwards numerous copies and variations of his paintings began to circulate. In addition, his style was highly influential, and was widely imitated by his numerous followers. [32] Over the years, scholars have attributed to him fewer and fewer of the works once thought to be his. This is partly a result of technological advances such as infrared reflectography , which enable researchers to examine a painting's underdrawing. [33] Art historians of the early and mid-20th century, such as Tolnay [34] and Baldass , [35] identified between 30 and 50 paintings that they believed to be by Bosch's hand, [36] while a later monograph by Gerd Unverfehrt (1980) attributed only 25 paintings and 14 drawings to him. [36] In early 2016, The Temptation of St. Anthony , a small panel in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri , long attributed to the workshop of Hieronymus Bosch, was credited to the painter himself after intensive forensic study by the Bosch Research and Conservation Project.

[6] [37] [38] The BRCP has also questioned whether two well-known paintings traditionally accepted to be by Bosch, The Seven Deadly Sins in the Prado and Christ Carrying the Cross in the Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent , should instead be credited to the artist's workshop rather than to the painter's own hand. [39] References[ edit ] Bax, Dirk. Ontcijfering van Jeroen Bosch. Den Haag, 1949 Boulboullé, Guido. "Groteske Angst. Die Höllenphantasien des Hieronymus Bosch". In: Auffarth, Christoph, and Kerth, Sonja (Eds): "Glaubensstreit und Gelächter: Reformation und Lachkultur im Mittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit", LIT Verlag Berlin, 2008. 55–78. Fischer, Stefan. "Hieronymus Bosch. The Complete Works", Cologne 2013. Fraenger, Wilhelm.

"Hieronymus Bosch" (Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1975) "Le royaume millénaire de Jérôme Bosch" (French transl. by Roger Lewinter, Paris 1993) Gibson, Walter. Hieronymus Bosch. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1973. ISBN 0-500-20134-X Jacobs, Lynn. "The Triptychs of Hieronymus Bosch". The Sixteenth Century Journal, Volume 31, No. 4, 2000. 1009–1041 Koldeweij, Jos & Vermet, Bernard & van Kooij, Barbera. Hieronymus Bosch. New Insights Into His Life and Work, NAi Publishers, Rotterdam 2001. ISBN 90-5662-214-5 Marijnissen, Roger. "Hiëronymus Bosch. Het volledige oeuvre". Haarlem: Gottmer/Brecht, 1987. ISBN 90-230-0651-8 Pokorny, Erwin.

"Hieronymus Bosch und das Paradies der Wollust". In: "Frühneuzeit-Info", Jg. 21, Heft 1+2 (Sonderband: Die Sieben Todsünden in der Frühen Neuzeit"), 2010. 22–34. Strickland, D. H., The Epiphany of Hieronymys Bosch. Imagining Antichrist and Others from the Middle Ages to the Reformation (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History), Turnhout: Harvey Miller, 2016, ISBN 978-1-909400-55-9 van Dijck, G.C.M. "Op zoek naar Jheronimus van Aken alias Bosch. De feiten. Familie, vrienden en opdrachtgevers". Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek, 2001. ISBN 90-288-2687-4 Further reading[ edit ] Ilsink, Matthijs; Koldeweij, Jos (2016).

Hieronymus Bosch: Painter and Draughtsman – Catalogue raisonné. Yale University Press. p. 504. ISBN 978-0-300-22014-8 . Follower of Hieronymus Bosch | Christ's Descent into Hell | The Met Christ's Descent into Hell Follower of Hieronymus Bosch (Netherlandish, second quarter 16th century) Medium: 21 x 46 in. (53.3 x 116.8 cm) Classification: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926 Accession Number: 26.244 Not on view Bosch’s fiery hell scenes remained enormously popular throughout Europe in the sixteenth century. A vast, desolate landscape with a burning city at the right and the river Styx at the left is the setting for this nightmarish vision, in which Christ breaks down the gates of hell to rescue the souls of the just. Gesturing in supplication towards him, Adam and Eve kneel on top of a ruinous tower.

Behind them, Old Testament figures climb the winding stairs from the depths of hell, among them Abraham and Isaac with the sacrificial ram, and Noah with a model of the ark. Catalogue Entry The Painting: This vividly populated panorama of the underworld presents Christ’s descent into the first circle of Hell (limbo) between his death on the cross and his Resurrection in order to redeem the souls of the Just of the Ancient Law. The Harrowing of Hell, as this event is often called, is outlined in the Gospel of Nicodemus in the Apocryphal New Testament (16:1–13) and was incorporated into Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend), which was widely spread in fifteenth and sixteenth-century Northern Europe. The accounts report that Christ demanded with a voice like thunder and wind, "Lift up your gates, O ye princes [of Hell] . . . and the King of Glory shall come in." Accordingly, Christ emerges in the painting through the gate of hell, illuminated by a divine light, appearing with a red mantle on his shoulders and a victory banner, while armed demons try to prevent the gate from opening.

The surrounding landscape is defined by fires, which silhouette buildings and hills that are separated by a meandering dark river, recalling Styx, Hades’ river in Greek mythology. In anticipation of the Savior, the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets populate a massive ruin in the painting’s foreground, evoking the Tower of Babel (see Additional Images, fig. 1). Besides Adam and Eve, the tower is climbed by Abraham and Isaac with the expiatory ram, Noah with a model of the Ark, Moses with the Tablets of the Law, David with his harp, the Repentant Thief from the Crucifixion with his cross, and presumably Lot accompanied by his daughters. The figure at the rear carrying a lantern and pointing the way was identified as Diogenes by Bergmans (1963) (see Additional Images, fig. 2). However, new investigations by Thürlemann (letter in departmental files) suggest that the figure might represent the ninth of the twelve Minor Prophets of the Canon of the Old Testament, Zephaniah, known in Greco-Latin (in the Vulgate and the Septuagint) as Sophonias.

Similarly to Diogenes, Zephaniah is depicted in Christian art with the lantern referring to Zephaniah I:12: "I will search Jerusalem with lamps." Besides the main narrative, Saint Christopher, who, carrying the Christ Child on his shoulders and attracting our attention by wearing a white garment, can be spotted in the tumult of the devil’s legion behind the tower (see Additional Images, fig. 3). As the Golden Legend tells, Saint Christopher served the devil’s army in his search for the greatest and most powerful ruler in the world before finding his lord in Christ. The depiction of Saint Christopher as part of the devil’s legion is unconventional, but not his appearance in a demonic, hellish environment. The representation of the saint in paintings and prints experienced new iconographic portrayals and reached a high point in Northern Europe around 1550. Depicted in combination with demonic motifs, images of the Christian saint could carry an apotropaic meaning due to his overcoming Satan. At the same time his legend also could be read as an allegory for the human pilgrimage to Christ challenged by trials of mischief and temptation (Unverfehrt 1980). The Met’s painting specifically evokes this latter allegorical meaning.

In contrast, the painting confronts its viewer with Judas, prominently holding his moneybag at the base of the right rock (see Additional Images, fig. 4). Planning to slip off with the Old Testament figures, he is stopped by devilish creatures and prevented from seeking redemption, for he committed suicide by hanging, a deed strongly repudiated by the Church in the sixteenth century. The gallows and hanging scene, flanking the group to the left, buttresses this implication (see Additional Images, fig. 5). The figure of Judas in such a pictorial context was emphasized by Karel van Mander in his description of a painted Hell that he had seen in Amsterdam and attributed to Hieronymus Bosch in his Schilder-Boek (1604). Van Mander’s description might refer to an authentic panel by Bosch, which is lost today, or to The Met’s painting, as Büttner suggested (2014). Moreover, Sisyphus, who climbs to the top of the right rock, first identified and to this day only mentioned by Donath (1926), plays a pivotal role for the image’s subtext (see Additional Images, fig. 6).

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished for his self-aggrandizing deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill in the underworld, only to watch it roll back down, repeating his action for eternity. In Christian thought and in contradiction to such saints as Saint Christopher, Sisyphus became the epitome of vain effort and senseless life. On the other hand, his endless aspiration to reach the rock’s summit was received in humanist literature since Petrarch as an encouraging moral metaphor for the human struggle to overcome a sinful lifestyle (see Elliott M. Simon, The Myth of Sisyphus: Renaissance Theories of Human Perfectibility, Madison [N.J.], 2007). An allusion to immoral living is also ascribed to the burning ship and shipwreck in the painting’s background. This recalls the image of the Christian community as a ship, inverted to serve as a satire on folly and vice in Sebastian Brant’s Ship of Fools (1494), in whose conception the latter is ultimately an image of the followers of the Antichrist (see Larry Silver, Hieronymus Bosch, New York/London, 2008).

Together, the painting’s interwoven narratives offer a deep eschatological subtext for its audience, providing them with an encouragement to devote their lives to Christ and renounce immoral living in anticipation of the Last Judgment. The Bosch Revival and the Painting’s Versions: This dystopian vision of the underworld is closely related to the visual vocabulary of Hieronymus Bosch (ca. 1450–1516), who was born and active in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Northern Netherlands (see The Met, 13.26 ). Countless sixteenth-century prints after and in the spirit of Bosch as well as copies and imitations on panel and canvas testify to the artist’s popularity and the increasing interest in the demonic aspects of his work, which was appreciated by both local and foreign collectors. Apocalyptic Hell landscapes were popular due to a belief held by many in Northern Europe that the end of the world was imminent, reflected in contemporary literature. Consequently, a number of sixteenth-century paintings depicting Christ’s descent into Hell in Bosch’s manner have come down to us.

However, despite Van Mander’s description of a "Hell […] in which patriarchs are released, and Judas, who is planning to slip off with them is hauled up and hanged with a noose," no representation of the subject, which might have functioned as a direct model for The Met's painting, can be identified in Bosch’s painted or drawn oeuvre (see Karel van Mander, The Lives of the Illustrious Netherlandish and German Painters . . . , ed. by H. Miedema, vol. 1, Doornsijk, 1994). Moreover, there is no known source in Bosch for the picture type of a long horizontal format, which more likely arises from developments in Netherlandish landscape painting. Nevertheless, many of The Met paintings' motifs are reminiscent of Bosch’s triptych The Last Judgment (Groeningemuseum, Bruges). There are two known very close versions of The Met’s panel. The first (formerly in the collection Benedetto Valmarana-Mangilli in Venice; today in a private collection, Milan) is a precise copy of the New York painting (see Additional Images, fig. 7).

The changes introduced between the underdrawing and painting stages by the artist of The Met’s painting, which were discovered during its technical examination, indicate an original, creative process, rather than the slavish copy of a fixed design (see Technical Notes and Additional Images, figs. 8–9). This provides evidence to suggest that The Met’s painting is the primary version and the Milan painting is a copy. This should be verified by the eventual technical study of the Milan version. The precise repetition of the format, composition, motifs, and characteristics of the painting technique, such as the way highlights are placed, suggest that it was made in the presence of The Met's painting at a very early stage and before the latter had been trimmed at its bottom edge (see Technical Notes). Interestingly, the copyist slightly centered the composition of the New York panel. The varied palette as well as the different technical execution of the Milan copy suggest the hand of another artist. It has been attributed by Frimmel and Bergmans to the South Netherlandish artist Gillis Mostaert I, a pupil of Jan Mandijn (see Theodor von Frimmel, Kleine Galeriestudien, vol.

1, Leipzig 1899; Bergmans 1963). The relationship between The Met's painting and a second faithful variation of it (current location unknown; on the London art market in 1928, offered by Matthiesen, according to Unverfehrt; see Additional Images, fig. 10) is more complicated due to minor differences in composition and motifs. Unverfehrt (1980) suggested a common model for both paintings, either by Bosch or his workshop. A final conclusion about the relationship must, however, remain open until the painting resurfaces. All three panels can be associated with related paintings that reflect parts of their compositions and motifs. Whereas a painting with the same subject (Sotheby’s, London, July 8–9, 2015, no. 1, as Leiden School) clearly relates to the London painting (due to the repetition of the details of its tower), a Temptation of Saint Anthony (Christie’s, Amsterdam, September 5–6, 2000, no. 601, as follower of Jan Mandijn), has a closer connection to the New York version and its Milan copy.

Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo’s early sixteenth-century Venetian panel The Tribulations of Saint Anthony Abbot (Timken Museum of Art, San Diego) combines elements of Bosch’s altarpiece in Bruges with the rock and the group around Judas of the New York panel. The genesis and sequence of the paintings remain subject to discussion. The Attribution and Date: While there never has been doubt about the fine quality of this painting, there has been some scholarly debate about its exact attribution and dating. Dendrochronological analysis revealed that the wood panel probably was not used before 1505 (see Technical Notes), leaving room for speculation on the date thereafter of the painting’s execution. In 1926 the picture appeared on the Prague art market. That year, based on a black and white photograph, Friedländer stated that it "is a characteristic work by Hieronymus Bosch" (unpublished opinion in departmental files), and included it as an authentic panel by Bosch in his fifth volume of Die Altniederländische Malerei in 1927.

Donath (1926) and Burroughs (1927) also attributed the painting to Bosch, contrasting with Panofsky (1933; verbal opinion in departmental files), who stated that the painting may be by the Flemish Renaissance painter and Bosch follower Pieter Huys (ca. 1519–1584). Michel (1935) considered it a work later than Bosch, deriving from Bosch’s Last Judgment in Vienna. De Tolnay (1937) listed it with doubtful works and dated it by its "Italianizing nudes" between 1540 and 1550 (which he changed to 1530–50 in 1966).

Sterling (1939; verbal opinion in departmental archives) suggested Frans Mostaert, the brother of Gillis Mostaert I, as the author of the painting, before Wehle and Salinger (1947) attributed it to an anonymous follower of Bosch, dating it in the "first quarter of the sixteenth century." Bergmans (1963) attributed the Milan copy to Gillis Mostaert I, and claimed that the figure of Diogenes with a lantern had not appeared in the North before 1559. Since Mostaert died in 1560, she dated The Met's painting and its Milan copy between 1559 and 1560. Two authors upheld Bergmans’s argument, namely Unverfehrt (1980) and Corwin (1976), of whom the latter attributed the New York painting to a "Bosch revival painter" contemporary to Mostaert, but not necessarily by him. Thürlemann (2015) weakened Bergmans’s argument in showing that the figure, which has been thought to be Diogenes, might represent Zephanias.

Sintobin (1998) pointed out that the house or passageway in the shape of a head (see Additional Images, fig. 11) is a motif that must have derived from Pieter Bruegel the Elder's drawing The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford). This drawing dates to 1556, supporting the idea of the New York painting’s execution in the late 1550s or even later, she supposed. This, however, is not convincing for various paintings by Bosch followers, which represent such a head, indicate that the iconography of the head has not been newly introduced by Bruegel but more likely was inspired by a lost painting or drawing by Bosch or his workshop, as Unverfehrt (1980) already had proposed. Against this backdrop, Thürlemann (2015) suggested that the panel is a late work by Matthys Cock (active before 1548), dating around 1540. Future research on the landscape tradition and Bosch’s reception in both the Southern and the Northern Netherlands during the first half of the sixteenth century may help to confirm or deny this new attribution.

[Linda M. Müller 2016] Technical Notes Support: The support is composed of two oak planks, with the grain oriented horizontally. The join, located near the center of the panel, was originally held in place with three dowels, which are evident in the x-radiograph (see Additional Images, figs. 12–13). Dendrochronological analysis (completed by Dr. Peter Klein, Universität Hamburg, 1997) indicated an earliest possible creation date of 1491, with a more plausible date of 1505 upwards. The wood originated in the Baltic/Polish region. The support measures 3/8 inch (0.8cm) thick and has not been thinned; original tool marks are present on the verso. Rough saw marks and a slightly irregular angle indicate that the bottom edge of the panel has been trimmed. The other three edges appear intact. Comparison of The Met's panel to a version in a private collection in Milan (see Additional Images, fig. 7) also suggests that the bottom edge was slightly trimmed.

The Milan version measures 55.5 x 120.5 cm, which is very close to the dimensions of The Met's panel, but slightly squarer. Assuming a direct proportional relationship between the two, the bottom of The Met's panel may have been trimmed about 1.6 cm. Traces of a brown shape at the bottom right of The Met's panel, largely obscured by early, discolored overpaint that runs along much of the bottom edge, provides further evidence that the bottom edge was trimmed. This brown shape is similar in location and appearance to the smoky flames rising up from the fire depicted in the lower right of the Milan composition, suggesting that a corresponding fire was originally present in the New York panel, but when the panel was trimmed the fiery center was cropped out leaving only an amorphous brownish form that was then painted out. Preparation: The panel was prepared with an off-white ground. There are no traces of a barbe on any edge, but there are a few instances where the ground beads out over the left and right edges of the panel, confirming that the original edges are preserved there and indicating that the panel was prepared independent of a frame.

Examination with infrared reflectography revealed a cursory underdrawing, executed using a dry medium. A few sketchy lines were observed in the background, for example, loose strokes setting out the horizon and curves for the clouds of smoke. In addition, two important compositional elements were worked up to a greater degree: the large head-shaped house near the center and the owl to its right (see Additional Images, figs. 8–9). The head was sketched out and then shaded with cross-hatched lines that follow the curves of the face and with parallel hatches in the nose. The owl was underdrawn with rough lines, which were then altered in the painting process to narrow the body and head. It is very possible that more extensive underdrawing is present but obscured in infrared examination by carbon-containing paint layers. Major passages of the composition were blocked in using broad strokes of thin paint in varying shades of grey and brown, which could be concealing underdrawing. Paint layers: The handling of the paint throughout the composition points to a skilled and efficient hand. Main passages were thinly blocked in with broad paint strokes, then finer details were added with a smaller brush using slightly heavier-bodied paint.

For example, the quiet depths of the water were created in a simple and direct manner: gradations of blue and light blue paint was thinly layered on top of a brown underpaint with a scattering of tiny strokes of slightly thicker white paint to suggest waves. The small figures populating the composition were painted atop the landscape with an equally deft approach. The small details of these figures were painted using slightly impasted paint, with a few instances of wet-in-wet strokes. On close examination, some figures were then outlined with black paint, further demarcating them from the landscape. A few changes were introduced between the underdrawing and painting stages. As noted above, the owl was originally drawn wider. A few underdrawn lines in the landscape were not followed in the painting, such as a wavy line in the upper right or architectural lines in the upper left. In addition, the orange paint that creates the apocalyptic glow across much of the sky extends slightly under the blue paint in the upper left corner, suggesting that even more of the sky was originally given over to a fiery sky.

The uppermost paint layers were abraded during an insensitive past cleaning, particularly evident in the browns, for example, in the smoky sky above the gaping mouth and in the ships’ riggings. A combination of this abrasion and the increased translucency of the aged oil paint gives the impression that the paint was applied even more thinly than it was, particularly in the brown passages of the background. [Sophie Scully 2015] Provenance Philipp, Graf von Saint Genois, Vienna (before 1895); [Kominik, Prague, after 1895]; Frantisek Kominik, Prague (until 1926); [Hugo Feigl, Prague, 1926; sold to MMA] Exhibition History Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "30 Masterpieces: An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 4–November 23, 1947, unnumbered cat. Iowa City. State University of Iowa, School of Fine Arts.

"30 Masterpieces: An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 9–March 31, 1948, unnumbered cat. Bloomington. Indiana University. "30 Masterpieces: An Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 18–May 16, 1948, no catalogue. Houston. University of St. Thomas. "Out of this World: An Exhibition of Fantastic Landscapes from the Renaissance to the Present," March 20–April 30, 1964, no. 2 (as School of Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch, first quarter of 16th century). New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 22, 1998–February 21, 1999, no. 64. New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Kara Walker at the Met: After the Deluge," March 21–August 6, 2006, no catalogue.

New York. Rubin Museum of Art. "Remember That You Will Die: Death Across Cultures," March 19–August 9, 2010, no catalogue. Museum Leuven. "Op Zoek Naar Utopia," October 20, 2016–January 17, 2017, no. 41. References [Adolph Donath?]. "Der neuentdeckte Hieronymus Bosch." Kunstwanderer (May 1926), pp. 378–79, ill., publishes it as a work by Hieronymus Bosch. Max J. Friedländer. Die altniederländische Malerei. Vol. 5, Geertgen van Haarlem und Hieronymus Bosch. Berlin, 1927, p. 149, no. 88. Bryson Burroughs. "The Descent of Christ into Hell by Hieronymus Bosch." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 22 (November 1927), pp. 272–74, ill., as by Bosch, painted later than our Adoration of the Magi (acc. no.

13.26). Édouard Michel. Letter. September 12, 1935, considers it a little later than Hieronymus Bosch, deriving from the "Last Judgment" in Vienna. Charles de Tolnay. Hieronymus Bosch. Basel, 1937, p. 105, no. 58, lists it with disputed works of Bosch; dates it about 1540–50. Sam A. Lewisohn. Painters and Personality: A Collector's View of Modern Art. [New York], 1937, p. 185, pl. 85. Ludwig Baldass. Katalog der Gemäldegalerie. 2nd ed. Vienna, 1938, p. 21, under no. 652, suggests that this work and the Vienna "Descent into Hell" are by the same hand. Harry B. Wehle and Margaretta Salinger. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Early Flemish, Dutch and German Paintings. New York, 1947, pp. 123–24, ill. Erik Larsen.

Les primitifs flamands au Musée Metropolitain de New York. Utrecht, 1960, pp. 98–99. Simone Bergmans in Le Siècle de Bruegel: la peinture en Belgique au XVIe siècle. Exh. cat., Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. Brussels, 1963, pp. 136–37, attributes a nearly identical version (private collection, Brussels; formerly Mangilli-Valmarana collection, Venice) to Gillis Mostaert (1528-60), observing that the figure of Diogenes holding the lantern does not appear in the north before 1559, when Vascosan published a French translation of Plutarch's Lives. Charles de Tolnay. Hieronymus Bosch. reprint of 1965 ed. [New York], 1966, p. 385, no. 58, pl. 54, lists it among disputed works; dates it about 1530–50. Max J. Friedländer et al. Early Netherlandish Painting.

Vol. 5, Geertgen tot Sint Jans and Jerome Bosch. New York, 1969, p. 85, no. 88, pl. 74, gives it to Bosch. Nancy A. Corwin. "The Fire Landscape: Its Sources and Its Development from Bosch through Jan Brueghel I, with Special Emphasis on the Mid-Sixteenth Century Bosch "Revival"." PhD diss., University of Washington, Seattle, 1976, pp. 406–08, no. 144, pl. 173, calls it "Christ in Limbo" and ascribes it to a follower of Bosch; observes that although Gillis Mostaert is documented as having painted many versions of this subject, it does not resemble any known works of his. Gerd Unverfehrt. Hieronymus Bosch: Die Rezeption seiner Kunst im frühen 16. Jahrhundert. Berlin, 1980, p. 289, no. 158, fig. 185.

Véronique Sintobin in From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Maryan W. Ainsworth and Keith Christiansen. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998, pp. 36, 254–56, no. 64, ill. (color), dates it about 1550–60 and notes that a detail suggesting a date in the 1550s or later is the conspicuous sinking house in the form of a gigantic head, a motif that appears in Bruegel's drawing of the Temptation of Saint Anthony, dated 1559 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford). Erik Larsen. Hieronymus Bosch. New York, 1998, p. 136, no. 41 [Italian ed., "Hieronymus Bosch: catalogo completo," Florence], agrees with Tolnay (1966) that the nudes are distinctly Italianizing, and states that it can therefore hardly date before 1530–50, considerably later than Bosch's death.

Hélène Mund et al. The Mayer van den Bergh Museum, Antwerp. Brussels, 2003, p. 401 n. 25. Marc Rudolf de Vrij. Jheronimus Bosch: An Exercise in Common Sense. Hilversum, The Netherlands, 2012, p. 568, no. E.24, ill. (color), incorrectly refers to new technical data that would confirm its dating to later than the 1550s. Michel Weemans. Herri met de Bles: les ruses du paysage au temps de Bruegel et d'Érasme. Paris, 2013, p. 286, fig. 194 (color). Nils Büttner in Fälschung—Plagiat—Kopie: Künstlerische Praktiken in der Vormoderne. Ed. Birgit Ulrike Münch et al. Petersberg, 2014, p.

31, ill., suggests that a Hell painting, described by Karel van Mander in his "Schilder-Boek" of 1604 and mentioned as a work by Hieronymus Bosch, is The Met's painting; points out that Van Mander's description of Judas, who is planning to slip off with the Old Testament figures but is hauled up with a noose and hanged, might refer to the scenery at the foot of the right rock in this work. Felix Thürlemann. Letter to Linda Marie Müller. December 10, 2015, thinks it is a late work by Matthys Cock (active before 1548), and dates it about 1540; identifies the figure with the lantern as Zephaniah, opposing Bergmans's (1963) late dating of the picture based on the identification of the figure as Diogenes; suggests the "Temptation of Saint Anthony" in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, is not the source for the head in this picture but a lost work of Bosch. Linda M. Müller in In Search of Utopia: Art and Science in the Era of Thomas More.

Exh. cat., Museum Leuven. Amsterdam, 2016, pp. 254–57, no. 41, ill. (color, overall and detail). Timeline of Art History (2000-present) Timelines Hieronymus Boschs And Medievil Artists Religion Essay Hieronymus Boschs And Medievil Artists Religion Essay Published: Last Edited: 23rd March, 2015 This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. Hieronymus Bosch was one of the greatest Dutch artists during the Middle Ages. However, Hieronymus Bosch was not his real name; his real name was Jeroen Anthoniszoon. He was born in Netherland during the late medieval time (1450-1516). During this period there was religious zeal pervading the area he lived; therefore, Christianity was the main interest in his works. His biography was not clear of how he lived his life; no one could identify his birth date.

On the contrary, his prominent works were famous for their aberration from reality and nightmarish scenes, especially the horrid depiction of the hell and what happened to people there. He accentuated on the sinful acts of human which lead mankind to the state of moral declination. His works have become well-known for their extreme pessimism and unearthly cruelty, for that he became the father of surrealism, and had the influences upon the style of many artists after his death. Even though his style was unique at the time he lived, his works still reflected the orthodox religious views during the late medieval period. Christianity was at the hearts of medieval artists including Bosch. During the medieval time, there were battles and plaques weakening the living conditions of people at that time. Religion became the essence of life; it inculcated equanimity, which means the ability to act calmly under tensed situations, into people's minds. As medieval Christianity put great effort in promoting equanimity as a way to relieve stress in life, it received a widespread popularity. Thus, medieval individuals accepted Christianity and integrated it into every aspect of their lives.

People formed the belief that the hapless events were a part of the tests for the faith in God and those who believed in him would live eternal lives in the land of god. Being the sole mental reliance to people, Christianity, therefore, played the dominant part in people's lives. Believing Christian's teaching, Hieronymus Bosch dedicated himself to create a number of precious visual arts communicating the Christian's beliefs on God, the creation of earth, hell etc. By accepting the common views on religion and presenting them on every piece of his work, Bosch conveyed his orthodox belief upon these Christian values. Another contributing factor that made Bosch paint a lot of pious drawings was that the church was one of the richest and the most powerful institutions during the period. The church was the most important source of income for Bosch and the other medieval artists. The church gained much power after the successful proselytizing the Romans to become Christian. The church had the power over the kings, and used such power to gained control of the political matters. By doing so, the church had to have supports from people; therefore, it tried to get involved in all aspect of human's life. Thus, every church employed visual arts as a form of mass communication by exhibiting the paintings to the people.

The paintings functioned as the reminders of the Christian's teaching. Recognizing the demand for religious paintings, Bosch, being able to express his faith in God, took the opportunity, and, later, became well-known for his talents. Therefore, his works show the conventional religious belief and Christian's value of the persons in the Middle Ages The religious beliefs shown in Bosch's paintings present his orthodox belief during the period. The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch's most famous work, consists of four panels displaying the creation of the earth by God, heaven, the earth, and hell on each panel. He painted the third day of the creation of the earth which conforms to the Christian teaching. Moreover, the depiction of the earth as a flat surface surrounded by water illustrates the belief based upon Bible that the earth is flat. Even though, the Bible does not obviously state that the earth is flat, there are many parts that bring the readers to believe that it is. For example, there are the mentions of the corners of the earth; if the earth is round, it will not have corners. In addition, in Daniel, there is a mention of a tall tree that is visible from everywhere in the world.

If the world is round, there is no chance that a tree, no matter how tall, can be seen from everywhere on earth. He also painted the Garden of Eden where the first sin of human was committed. On the earth panel, there are many naked people enjoying the earthly pleasure. Allowing the lust to obscure the virtue, they are practicing the sinful acts. On the hell panel, Bosch showed the terrifying results of those sins. He tried to exhibit the dreadful result of lust and the fail of morality to exhort medieval individuals to be a good Christian In conclusion, there are many reasons justifying why Hieronymus Bosch believed in what he did, and his dedication to religious painting. First of all he believed in Christianity, so it was understandable for him to paint what he had faith in. Second, the medieval church was so powerful that it is the most prominent source of income for artists; therefore, it was not surprising to see the reflection of Christian belief in Bosch's works. Even though, a lot of the elements that he put into paintings were gruesome, they manifested the idea of immorality, God, the life of Jesus, and other Christian value as well.

These are the evidences of his depictions of the orthodox religious values prevailing during late medieval time. Art Renewal Center Museum™ Artist Information for Hieronymus Bosch Netherlands Biographical Information BOSCH, JEROM (c. 1460-1518), the name generally given, from his birthplace Hertogenbosch, to Hieronymus van Aeken, the Dutch painter. He was probably a pupil of Albert Ouwater, and may be called the Breughel of the 15th century, for he devoted himself to the invention of bizarre types, diableries, and scenes of the kind generally associated with Breughel, whose art is to a great extent based on Bosch's. He was a satirist much in advance of his time, and one of the most original and ingenious artists of the 15th century. He exercised great influence on Lucas Cranach , who frequently copied his paintings. His works were much admired in Spain, especially by Philip II , at whose court Bosch painted for some time. One of his chief works is the Last Judgment at the Berlin gallery, which also owns a little St Jerome in the Desert.

The Fall of the Rebellious Angels and the St Anthony triptych are in the Brussels museum, and two important triptychs are at the Munich gallery. The Lippmann collection in Berlin contains an important Adoration of the Magi, the Antwerp museum a Passion, and a practically unknown painting from his brush is at the Naples museum. Source: Entry on the artist in the 1911 Edition Encyclopedia . Books and Related Products About This Artist Haywain

Question: What nationality was the painter Hieronymus Bosch?
Answer: DUTCH