8 little-known facts about the predecessor of surrealism, Hieronymus Bosch

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Bosch, a famous Dutch painter who lived from about 1450-1516, is known for his canvases on the theme of biblical subjects, which he abundantly "seasoned" with fantastic and often creepy images of people, animals, monsters and hybrid creatures. Someone considered him a psychopath obsessed with sex, someone assumed that he was familiar with occult practices. But one way or another, his paintings do not leave viewers indifferent even after 500 years.

1. Historians know almost nothing about Bosch

Few artists are as revered and mysterious as Bosch. At the height of his career, he was known throughout Europe. Many art lovers in the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Italy were inspired (and often imitated) his work. However, historians know surprisingly little about the artist's life.

Bosch did not leave behind any diaries, letters or documents. To complicate matters further, there are only about 25 famous paintings and about 20 drawings worldwide attributed to the artist. In addition, Basch never dated his works, so it is not known exactly when he wrote them, or even how many years it took him to create them.

Everything that is really known for sure about Bosch can be described in just a few phrases. He was born in the Dutch municipality of Den Bosch, probably between 1450 and 1455 (like many aspects of Bosch's life, his exact date of birth is unknown). Extant records show that he spent most of his life in his hometown, and that his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and most of his uncles were also artists. Bosch's father, Antonius van Aken, was artistic advisor to the Famed Brotherhood of Our Lady, a prestigious Christian brotherhood that venerated the Virgin Mary. Bosch himself joined this fraternity in the late 1480s.

In 1480, the artist married Aleit Goyarts van der Meerwen, who came from a wealthy merchant family from the neighboring town of Aarschot, where they moved soon after.

In the Brotherhood of Our Lady, Bosch's death was documented in 1516, and his funeral took place in the Church of St. John on August 9 of the same year. Experts do not know from what Bosch died and the exact date of his death.

2. Bosch was known by many names

Just as Bosch's life is ambiguous, so is his name. Today it is generally accepted that the artist's real name was Jeroen Antonison van Aken. For many centuries the first name of the artist was written as Jerome, Jerome, Jerun, Jerome and Jerome. It wasn't until 1604 that the Dutch art historian Karel van Mander, who first attempted to write a biography of the artist, used the name Jerome.

As for the artist's surname, it was not Bosch at all. His hometown, 's-Hertogenbosch, was colloquially known to the locals as Den Bosch or Bosch. Therefore, Jerome decided to take a pseudonym in honor of his hometown.

3. "Garden of Earthly Delights" became a source of inspiration for rock musicians

Bosch died 500 years ago, but contemporary musicians, designers, choreographers, artists and authors continue to draw inspiration from his works, mainly from his most famous painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights.

British rock band XTC recorded a track titled " Garden of earthly delights"for his 1989 album" Oranges and Lemons. "In 2015, Raf Simons, who served as creative director for Christian Dior from 2012 until the end of 2015, named the clothing collection after the painting. Choreographer and director Martha Clarke created a production of the same name.

Although The Garden of Earthly Delights (1510-1515) depicts the entire human experience: from earthly life to heaven or hell, in three parts of the triptych, Bosch created other fantastic, but less well-known works, such as The Last Judgment and The Hay Carrier. … Both paintings trace the path of humanity from creation through sinful earthly existence to eternal fiery damnation.

4. Many of his works have been lost

Many of Bosch's works are believed to have been created for religious patrons. However, influential secular figures may have also used his services and acquired his intricate paintings. For example, The Garden of Earthly Delights was exhibited by Henry III at the Brussels Palace of Nassau in 1517.

Not all of Bosch's paintings survived the centuries, and some that were attributed to him for centuries were later recognized as imitations. But thanks in large part to wealthy collectors such as Philip II of Spain (who collected many of Bosch's works during the late 16th century), a number of works by the genius artist can be seen in modern museums.

5. Experts have recently rediscovered the "lost" painting of Bosch

Bosch's paintings belong to some of the most famous museums in the world: the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. But until recently, one of the artist's forgotten works turned out to have been kept for decades at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum acquired the painting, which was probably once part of a triptych, in the 1930s. The painting, titled The Temptation of St. Anthony, depicts the famous saint, his temptations and a series of tiny, surreal figures in the foreground: a floating sausage, a monster fox, and a water toad.

The canvas was probably created between 1500 and 1510. Previously it was believed that it was written by one of Bosch's students. But in early 2016, experts who took part in an international research project dedicated to Bosch said that Bosch himself wrote it.

6. Bosch could include a self-portrait in the "Garden of Earthly Delights"

Since there are no surviving portraits of Bosch, scientists do not know exactly what he looked like. However, one art historian, Hans Belting, believes that the artist included his own image in The Garden of Earthly Delights. He suggests that Bosch is a man whose torso resembles a cracked eggshell, who smiles ironically as he looks at the scenes of hell.

7. An obscene song from "The Garden of Earthly Delights"

In 2014, a Tumblr blogger under the pseudonym Amelia studied The Garden of Earthly Delights and noticed a peculiar detail: a series of musical notes was depicted on the fifth point of one of Bosch's tortured sinners. She enlarged these notes, rewrote them in modern notation and recorded the modern version for piano of "600 Years Song from Hell". Someone continued her work and wrote the lyrics of the song, very indecent content.

8. Bosch parade

Anyone can celebrate the artist's legacy by visiting Bosch's annual paradewhich is usually held every June in Skhertochenbosch.