That Hieronymus Bosch. What a weirdo. ― Terry Pratchett (English author)




Hieronymus Bosch was all about the details.

With his paintings being over 500 years old, 16th Century Dutch painter, Hieronymus Bosch remains one of the most notable apocalyptic painters of the world. Eminently celebrated for his detail drenched narrative renditions of the dance between heaven and hell through biblically symbolic imagery of fantastical, animals, monsters, macabre humans and otherworldly creatures. He externalizes the ugliness inward and stimulates our curiosity. No matter how many times his work is displayed, each time the viewer discovers something new, within the paintings or oneself. He could arguably be considered the first surrealist, four centuries before Salvador Dali. Perhaps Dali's work was influenced by Bosch.
His paintings demonstrate our age-old tales of morality and the eventual fate of all sinners who succumb to the pleasures and perversity of the ego. These timeless stories, masterfully portrayed upon canvas in Bosch’s impeccably steady hand, continue to challenge interpretation as well as position the artist as one of the canon’s first original thinkers. - theartstory.org
His best known painting, 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' a triptych (three-part painting) is also my favorite. 
The detail is both staggering and mesmerizing at the same time. It portrays the entire human experience, from earthly life to heaven or hell, in three attached canvases. Other fantastical lesser known works, 'The Last Judgement' and 'The Haywain Triptych'. Both trace humanity's path from creation, to a sinful earthly existence, and finally fiery damnation.



Art historians surmise there are approximately 25 known painting and 20 drawings globally as there is some mystery surrounding the artist including his name (there is much debate including it's spelling), and birth, due to him leaving no notes, journals or letters. The documentary surrounding his work and it's complexities is currently on Netflix.

Comments

  1. Wow, you can tell this dude was waaay "out there". I'll have to make a point to watch the Netflix trailer to learn more. I'm sure it's also interesting to hear other's commentary on his paintings, to hear their spin on how he painted 'this' and why he painted 'that'. It all looks a bit eery in my opinion; nonetheless, interesting. You always find interesting topics to blog.

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    1. Thanks! I like to post what I like and hope people will give suggestions too.

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