Hieronymous Bosch

Hieronymus Bosch (born Jeroen Anthonissen van Aken, c. 1450-1516)

Bosch (pr. boss) is certainly one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time, developing his aesthetic separately from the Italianate traditions that informed some of his later contemporaries, such as Dürer, van Eyck, and Breughel. Scholars have tried to categorize him as a moralist, a satirist, a humanist, and a fiery religious propagandist, among other things.

In many ways, Bosch remains a cipher, like many medieval artists, who remained anonymous because of the theological injunctions against pride and, frankly, because many painters worked in a collective like the craftsmen they were considered to be. Therefore, there are no diaries, artistic manifestos, or informed witnesses or biographers. His Christian name is a variation on Jerome, the name of the saint who created the Vulgate. His family name van Aken, means “from Aachen,” a city now in Germany but which was Flanders in the sixteenth century. However, 's-Hertogenbosch is not particularly close to Aachen. In Dutch, his name is pronounced “boss,” but in German, “bosh.”

He came from a family of painters, including his grandfather, uncles, and father, all from the same region and town, 's-Hertogenbosch, from the Netherlands provice of Brabant. Bosch’s father was the artistic advisor to the civic order called the Brotherhood of Our Lady. Much of the town was destroyed in a fire, so it’s possible that this is why most of their works did not survive. Eventually, Bosch joined this society as well. He married a rich woman, and she may have helped support his art.

Philip II of Spain greatly admired Bosch and acquired many of his works, which is why many of them remain in that country. One presumes that their religious significance attracted the king, a conservative Catholic. Perhaps the most celebrated piece is The Garden of Earthly Delights, one of his triptychs.  It depicts a slightly dysfunctional and erotic Paradise with Adam and Eve, bizarre fruits and vegetables, and then a frightening and grotesque hell on the right hand panel. When one closes the triptych, one can see a grisaille of God creating the Earth.

Since Bosch’s art is so singular and bizarre, most critics have not known what to make of it. Was it advancing or criticizing medieval heresies, demonstrating a obscure hermeticism, or just there to titillate and provoke? Generally the paintings have been subjected to the same analysis that has dominated literary studies. Interpretations have tended to reflect the aesthetic or ethics of their own time rather than Bosch’s. Hence our time thinks itself less prescriptive and judgmental and sees its beliefs in Freud and surrealism validated, for instance.

His work is easily available online, notably at the site hieronymous-bosch.org. and boschproject.org