Although the exact date of his birth is not known, the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, who died at an early age on August 9, 1516, is considered one of the most important representatives of the Dutch early Renaissance period. The Worldly Pleasures painting by Hieronymus Bosch is undoubtedly one of the most important works of the painter even today, because the painting is full of details that you will notice a new one every time you look at it.
Hieronymus Bosch was a well-known painter during his lifetime and even inspired many names. Even when you look at the works he painted, you will realize that he has an extraordinary mindset. A glance at the Garden of Earthly Pleasures is not enough, because a different narrative is hidden at each point of this rather large work. Let’s take a closer look at the extraordinary details about the Garden of Earthly Delights painting and its painter, Hieronymus Bosch.
The Garden of Earthly Pleasures painting and its painter Hieronymus Bosch features:
Who is Hieronymus Bosch, we don’t know exactly:
General As a result, many details are known about the artists of the Renaissance period. But Hieronymus Bosch is not one of them. Details such as when he was born, what kind of education he received, who he worked with are a complete mystery. Who is Hieronymus Bosch, even today, is still a secret, as he did not leave any diary, diary or study notes behind.
Do you know the size of the Garden of Earthly Delights painting?
The Garden of Earthly Delights is not like the pictures we know. It appears as a whole painted on three different panels. Their size is quite surprising. The full size of the Garden of Earthly Delights is approximately 4 meters. Even the middle panel alone is close to 2 meters. Its length is more than 2 meters. In other words, we are not talking about a painting that you can buy and hang in your room.
To understand the painting, it is necessary to read it with a special method:
The Garden of Earthly Pleasures is not a work that can be understood when you look at it, because it consists of three different panels. It should be read from left to right. On the left panel, God introduces Adam and Eve, and on the right panel, there is a torture. In the central panel, the world we live in is shown as a surreal attraction. So the Garden of Earthly Delights should be judged not only on the middle panel from which it is named, but on the overall story.
When you close the panels and turn them around, you are in for a surprise:
When you close the two outer panels that make up the Garden of Earthly Delights on the middle panel and turn them around, you see a completely different picture. . In this painting, there is a world made with gray and neutral colors. In the upper left corner of the sphere with surprising details, there is a god figure wearing a pope’s crown. Next to it is the inscription Psalm 33:9 from the Bible. In this article, “Because he spoke and happened; commanded and stood firm.” sentence passes.
We can meet Hieronymus Bosch in the Garden of Earthly Delights:
We said that we don’t know much about Hieronymus Bosch. However, every painter reveals himself in his paintings in some way. According to the claim made by art historian Hans Belting, there is a face of the tree-man, which is the focal point of the right panel in the Garden of Earthly Delights. The mysterious painter may have left a self-portrait signature on the Garden of Earthly Delights by painting his own face here.
The name of the painting was not always the Garden of Earthly Pleasures:
To begin with, by opening a small parenthesis, the Garden of Earthly Pleasures does not reflect this whole painting anyway. The garden of earthly pleasures is depicted only in the middle panel. However, over time it became known by this name. When we go back to the 17th century, this work was called the Strawberry Painting. Because an attractive strawberry tree was depicted in the center of the middle panel.
The Garden of Earthly Delights was a popular piece even when it was first made:
Originally called The Garden of Earthly Delights, it’s not a painting that has been appreciated years later. . It was exhibited in the city palace of the Counts of the House of Nassau in Brussels in 1517, a year after its painter Hieronymus Bosch died. It was visited by heads of state, court officials and nobles. It is possible to understand how important the Garden of Earthly Pleasures painting is from the abundance of copies made after the painter’s death.
Hieronymus Bosch’s use of oil paints in this painting is surprising:
The Garden of Earthly Pleasures, painted by Hieronymus Bosch using oil paints on oak panels, was made with oil paints. It’s an interesting detail. Because at that time, oil paint was not even a hundred years old since it was invented and it was not very popular among painters. The fact that Hieronymus Bosch noticed the oil painting technique discovered by the Flemish artist Jan Van Eyck in 1410 and used it in his paintings indicates that he was a person open to innovations like other Renaissance figures.
The painting has an adventurous relocation story:
- II. Philip
Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Pleasures painting was exhibited in the Netherlands for a while, then in 1591 the Spanish King II. It was bought by Philip and exhibited at Escorial. After 1939, the painting was taken to the Prado Museum in Madird. The place of the painting, which almost disappeared during the Spanish Civil War, was wanted to be changed in 2014, but it was kept here with a special agreement. There is a website about the details of the painting
The Garden of Earthly Pleasures
Neither Hieronymus Bosch nor his painting The Garden of Earthly Pleasures is still not fully deciphered today. Many important figures, such as the German art historian Erwin Panofsky, devoted their careers to understanding Hieronymus Bosch and his paintings. However, even these names still do not see a light at the end of the tunnel. You can find all the details and theories about the details noticed by art historians on the Esoteric Bosch website, which you can access via the link here.
We talked about little-known details about the Garden of Earthly Pleasures painting by Hieronymus Bosch, one of the important names of the Dutch early Renaissance period. Do you think this painting is really that mysterious? You can share your thoughts in the comments.
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