Bosch - Help Asked of You Folks

by **hecter** on Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:40 am

I've written a report on Hieronymus Bosch for my art history class in school. It's worth 30% of my final mark, so I'd like to to be good... If you guys could please read over it, correct any grammatical or spelling errors, that would be EXCELLENT!

I'm hoping I can get some constructive criticism from you guys. Thanks for any help you provide

PS Sorry if it's a bit dry... You don't have to read the whole thing, if you were to just skim over it, you know...

==============================================

Born in ‘s-Hertgonbosch, he seemed to have lived there all his life. Little is known about his life, however, as he kept no diaries. We do know that he married well and was successful throughout his life, despite living in a relatively isolated town. His real name was Jerome van Aken, and his father was a painter. Despite being labeled as a heretic in the 17th century, well after his death in 1516[1], he was actually part of the Brotherhood of our Lady, an extremely orthodox church devoted to the worship of the Virgin. It was a very large and wealthy organization, and must have contributed quite a bit to the cultural life of the city. Most of his family belonged to the church, and were even employed by them for various tasks. Bosch himself received several commissions to decorate their chapel.
Determining Bosch’s inspiration and who he was influenced by is not an easy task. The best way to describe him and his work is this: “[He] was unique, strikingly free, and his symbolism, unforgettably vivid, remains unparalleled to this day.”[2] He was nothing like the major artists of his time. Jan van Eyck with his incredibly detailed “Arnolfini’s Wedding Portrait” or Robert Campin’s solemn faces on his “Nativity” paintings greatly contrasts with the naked figures in Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights”[fig 1]. In fact, the people that he resembles the most are modern day surrealists. His paintings fascinate and frighten us. Even for those of us that don’t believe in a place of torture and pain for the unworthy in the afterlife are scared and shocked at what kind of person could create this imagery. The grotesque and deformed, the demons and the death. It can frighten you, and want you to turn away from it and never look back, yet it encapsulates you, draws you in so that you can’t stop staring despite how scared you may be, despite how much you want to look away. You stare at the women being molested by demons, you stare at the naked figures in the water, you stare at the fantastic creatures grazing. The sinners are sinning, and being punished for what they’ve done in life over and over again in their death. It’s a world Bosch created, completely unlike those of his time, and exactly like that of ours.
The paintings that he did are hard to put in a chronological order, as he never dated them (though he did sign many). It’s impossible to do an accurate one. You can make an accurate guess as approximately what time in his life that he did them at, as the ones he did in early life are a bit awkward in their composition. If you look at fig. 2 and fig. 3, you can see examples of this. In “The Cure of Folly”[fig 2], you can see that a surgeon is removing an object from the mans face. The man sits oddly in the chair, and his legs are unusually short and stubby. All the people’s faces in the painting are very unexpressive. In the other one, “Crucifixion With a Donor”[fig 3], you Christ on the cross with some people surrounding him. Personally, I think the most interesting thing about this painting is that it takes place in a scene that would have been common in the German and Dutch areas, rather than in the sands of Jerusalem. The faces are completely devoid of any emotion, and the man kneeling just does not work at all. It looks like he should be floating for goodness sakes! I find these things common among his early works. If you look at “Ecce Homo”[fig 4] and “Christ Carrying the Cross” [fig 5] you’ll also see that he crammed far too many people into far too small of a place.
The best example of his early work is “Epiphany”[fig 6]. The people around the table of long and oddly bent necks, the person on the right wearing white has incredibly skinny legs, the way the baby looks too developed for it’s age, with it’s neck being able to support it’s head and arms firmly outstretched. The way it’s being held with open palms is not something than anybody should ever try with a baby. Ever. The scales and perspective are off. The man in green is really really small compared with the virgin and the other people. The virgin herself looks quite giant. The wall behind the virgin where the guards are leaning looks maybe a few feet, if that, away. But the guards look as though they should be much farther than that to be that size. Hence the perspective is off. The people in the painting look as though they are being forced to act out a scene. A scene that they have already acted out far too many times already that day. They are bored, their placement is too perfect, and it’s just as though they want it to end, now… But, as the years progressed, so did Bosch’s talent until he was able to produce the triptychs and unpleasant paintings that he did, that than these, to be honest, rather boring ones.
“The Garden of Earthly Delights”[fig 1], one of my favourite paintings, and not just by this artist. What the Garden of Earthly Delights is is actually a triptych. That means that it’s more like an alter piece that has been ‘broken’ into three sections, and closes like a cabinet. There are three sections to The Garden of Earthly Delights, and I will look at each of them. I won’t, however, be looking at the front of it. What it looks like closed (meaning, the front of it) can be seen in fig. 7. The three inner panels are the “central panel”[fig 8], “Heaven panel”[fig 9] on the left and the “Hell panel”[fig 10] on the right.
The left panel now, the “Heaven panel” [fig 9]. It’s fairly basic, not nearly as much going on as there was in the central panel, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Adam has just awoken to see the being that was created from his rib. And, unlike Bosch’s early works, you can see some emotion on his face. He looks very happy, surprised with some anticipation thrown in. Eve, with a look of modesty on her face, and some sadness, almost, as if she has foreknowledge of the evil that she will do. But there is great skill involved with this work. Eve’s red, waving hair, the folds and the lighting on Jesus’s robe, the small but detail animals around and in the pond. Exotic animals, including elephants and unicorns. The pink structure in the middle, the Fountain of Youth. The mountains in the background that look carved out of the living, breathing rock. I just love the fact that in the foreground, we have a visual representation of a story that everybody knows, surrounded by things nobody has or ever will see. And when looked at beside the central panel, it’s so orderly and uninteresting because we have those nude figures running around enjoying themselves in anyway they can imagine. But when you really look into you, you see that this is in fact very chaotic yet very still at the same time. Adam is frozen in time, that look of anticipation and pure happiness on his face, yet the world goes on around him. Animals spring forth from the pond, eating each other, fly out in massive flocks from the depths of the mountain. And he just sits there, smiling away. It is the picture of his first love, the first love, your first love, just before it’s realized. It’s a thing of beauty, mixed with the slimy amphibians and cats with rats in their mouths, silly looking mountains and a big pink fountain.
With this triptych’s central panel, you can see hundreds of nude figures, each involved in some bizarre act of play. This is earth, after the creation of Adam and Eve[fig 11] and is a progression of sin. They have been exiled from eden, had children and then their children and their children’s children were brought to this wonderful land of play. It’s a bizarre scene, to be sure, and almost frightening in some ways. There are enormous animals [fig 12] with people dancing, groping and riding on them. Either a strange creature from the depths of the most creative imaginations that has four legs and four arms with an owl head, or, two people with a fruit of some sort on their upper body and an owl perched on top [fig 13]. I have absolutely no idea what to think of this. What does it mean? How does this affect me? Why is this creature in this wonderland, rather then the horror of hell? Now, if you kindly direct your attention to fig 14, “Water Creatures”, you can several funny scenes happening. A mermaid being courted by something that looks like it’s out of a science fiction film. There is a team of the same creatures feeding a large fish. A bunch of people going into a large egg. I can’t help at ask myself ‘Why?’. A big group of people sitting around what looks like a really big, spiked strawberry. Then, of course, there are the buildings up top [fig 15] [fig 16]. These look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. They are large, pink and blue with fountains and sculptures that seem alive (maybe they are, I don’t know). The buildings seem to be half architecture and half plant. There is a large horn, of some sort, that instead of playing music has birds flowing out of it [fig 16]. People and things crawling over them, in them, out them. Twirls of shape and colour. They resemble nothing, but you know what they are. And they look vaguely familiar. As if you’ve seen it before, which is of course absurd. But you have all of these things, these silly, nonsensical scenes, put together as a piece of theatre that’s being acted out right in front of you all at once. The figures seem to move, to flow, yet they remain motionless. And you don’t know what they are doing or why they are doing it. You just know that you wish you were there with them, without a care in the world. Courting mermaids, climbing living buildings, picking the fruit from the trees. Swimming in the lake and riding the horses and birds. Running into a giant egg or being carried in a clam. All the sense of duty, responsibility, modesty has been thrown out the window, and you just do it. Because you can, because it’s fun, because you want to! It is the progression of sin. They have deviated from Gods way. And, in the last and final panel, you see how the suffer. They lived a life filled with performing sinful acts, and in the mind of an extremely orthodox Catholic from the middle ages, this deserves the most unimaginable horrors of hell.
The “Hell panel”[fig 10], found of the right of the triptych, is without a doubt one of the most strange, obscene, pornographic and beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I don’t even know where to begin with this thing… Well, like the other two panels, everybody is naked. But, there are many, many demons mixed in with these humans, rather than pretty and exotic animals. These demons facilitate the rape, torture, murder, punishment of these humans, as this is hell. You can see a man that was once greedy being coerced to sign some sort of contract or legal document by a pig [fig 17]. It’s all very barbaric irony, really. In fig 18, you can see a hunter being hunted down by a rabbit and it’s dogs. You can see a “bird-headed monster at lower right gobbles up the damned souls only to defecate them into a transparent chamber pot from which they plunge into a pit below.”[3] [fig 19]. In fig 19, you can also see a once proud woman staring endlessly into the mirrored backside of a demon whose root-like hands is molesting her body. In the same detail, you can also see a glutton being forced to regurgitate his meals into a pit, and a man who seems to be stuck in a horn (you can se his hand sticking out the end) which is being held up by a man with another horn that seems to be attached to his forehead, and a flute which is coming out of his anus. There is even more in this painting, which is really quite scary. I can’t fathom how anybody could come up with these nightmares. You are forced to look at it too. The triptych is designed to be read, almost like a book. From left to right. You start with the creation, progress towards the sinners of the earth, and finish here. Here, where the nude humans dance with the demons to some sort of bagpipe music[fig 20]. Here, where falcons eat and then excrete whole people. It’s MEANT to shock and horrify. You are supposed to be scared by this. It’s harkening back to the belief that people should be scared into believing.
The last of Bosch’s paintings that I’ll be looking at is the “Seven Deadly Sins”[fig 21]. This painting is attributed to one of his earlier works, and is of a style and theme that he later becomes known for. What this painting is is a progression of life. You have Christ and God in the center, watching out over their people. Surrounding them are each of the seven deadly sins. In each of the four corners are the four progressions of death. Let’s take a look, shall we?
The first sin I’ll look at, quickly, is anger[fig 22]. The picture that I have of it is of low quality, at best, but you get the idea that it’s trying to convey. You see two men throwing things about at each other over a woman. Anger and jealousy, very deadly sins indeed. In fig 23, you have lust. Two lovers seeking cover in an open tent to be with each other, and being entertained by some fools. You can really clearly see that they this is one of his early works in this detail because scale and perspective have been distorted in order to make the picture work. Idleness is represented by a man who doesn’t want to wake for church[fig 24]. You can see a judge allowing himself to be bribed, clearly showing greed[fig 25].
One of the better depicted sins in the painting is Envy[fig 26]. The mother and father are shown again in the same section as the dogs below them. What is going on in this painting is the parents are looking for a suitor for their daughter. They already have a good choice whom the daughter obviously likes beside them, and he looks like he could provide well for them judging by his purse, but the parents would rather go for the richer man who can afford falcons and servants. They envy the fact that he is not her suitor. The dogs have two perfectly good bones before them, one for each of them, but they would rather have the nicer bone in the mans hand. They envy the man and his bone.
In fig 27, you can see grotesque acts of gluttony. The skinny boy spills his beer all over himself as he chugs it down. The man gorges himself, even though he’s already so fat. The small, fat child seems to beg for more food, not even caring at the fact that he just defecated him his clothes. It really is very disgusting, and it’s plain to see how it can be considered a deadly sin. It’s selfish, unhygienic, and breeds the other deadly sins as well.
Pride[fig 28]. My favourite portion of this entire work of art. You have a woman. A prideful, sinful woman. She is surrounded by all her worldly possessions. He china, her jewelry, her oranges. It’s all there. And she is standing there, staring at herself in a mirror and adjusting her headdress. And she’s so engrossed by all of this, that she can’t see the fact that her mirror is being held by a devil. And, this is my favourite part of my favourite portion of one of my favourite paintings, this devil is wearing the same headdress as the woman! The symbolism is so thick you can cut it with a knife. It’s basically saying to this woman in the painting “This is what you are, a devil, a demon, a nasty sinner, and you can’t even realize it.”. It’s positively awful! I just cannot get enough of it. I find humour in it. I find sadness and pity in it. I find ignorant bliss in it. It’s just wonderful…
In the four corner, as I stated earlier, are the four tandos. You see the death of a man in fig 29 and in the top left corner of the full painting[fig 21]. Then, the soul will move over to Last Judgment[fig 30] in the top right hand corner. The fate of the soul must then be determined. Will the soul go to heaven[fig 31] or hell[fig 32]? Heaven is seen as a very bright, very quiet place. Nothing really going on, just the angels and the good souls. A super contrast to hell, where people are raped and tortured, strange animals being created, strange hills and strange demons. It’s a scene we’ve seen somewhere before. Earlier, in the Hell of The Garden of Earthly Delights. The demons are there, the torture is there, the over all unnerving-ness of it all. It’s all there.
Bosch’s style is one all on it’s own. It’s not like the other Netherlandish paintings, and it’s comparable, but not the same as modern day surrealism. I must say, his technical skill was not that of Da Vinci, Caravaggio, or Jan van Eyck. The characters and colours can be cartoony at times. But they had some real passion in them. This man took the worst things from his heart and soul and put them on canvas for us to look at, learn from, or just enjoy their disturbing beauty. He certainly was far ahead of his time!
[1] I found some conflicting information on this, but the generally accepted date is 1516
[2] Taken directly from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch/
[3] Taken directly from http://www.wga.hu/html/b/bosch/3garden/ ... right.html

by **Iliad** on Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:50 am

I read the first paragraph. And then I got kinda bored cause art isn't really my subject

by **hecter** on Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:11 pm

Bumpzors

Born in ‘s-Hertgonbosch, it seems Bosch lived there for his entire life. Little is known about his life, however, as he kept no diaries. We do know that he married well and was successful throughout his life, despite living in a relatively isolated town. His real name was Jerome van Aken and his grandfather was a painter. Despite being labeled as a heretic in the 17th century, well after his death in 1516[1], he was actually part of the Brotherhood of our Lady, a strongly orthodox church devoted to the worship of the Virgin. It was a very large and wealthy organization and must have contributed quite a bit to the cultural life of the city. Most of his family belonged to the church and were even employed by them for various tasks. Bosch himself received several commissions to decorate their chapel.
Determining Bosch’s inspiration and who he was influenced by is not an easy task. One way to describe him and his work is this: “[He] was unique, strikingly free, and his symbolism, unforgettably vivid, remains unparalleled to this day.”[2] He was nothing like the other major artists of his time. Jan van Eyck with his incredibly detailed “Arnolfini’s Wedding Portrait” or Robert Campin’s solemn faces on his “Nativity” paintings greatly contrasts with the naked figures in Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights”[fig 1]. In fact, the people that he resembles the most are modern day surrealists. His paintings can fascinate and scare us. Even for those of us that don’t believe in a place of torture and pain for the sinful in the afterlife are scared and shocked at what kind of person could create this imagery - the grotesque and deformed figures, the demons and the death running amok. It can frighten you and make you want you to turn away from it and never look back, yet it encapsulates you, draws you in so that you can’t stop staring despite how scared you may be, despite how much you want to look away. You stare at the women being molested by demons; you stare at the naked figures in the water; you stare at the fantastic creatures grazing. The sinners are sinning and being punished for what they’ve done in life over and over again in their death. It’s a world Bosch created, completely unlike those of his time and exactly like that of ours.
The paintings that he did are hard to put in a chronological order, as he never dated them (though he did sign many) and it’s impossible to do an accurate one. You can make an accurate guess as approximately what time in his life that he did them at, as the ones he did in early life are a bit awkward in their composition. If you look at fig. 2 and fig. 3, you can see examples of this. In “The Cure of Folly”[fig 2], you can see that a surgeon is removing an object from the mans face. He sits oddly in the chair and his legs are unusually short and stubby. All the people’s faces in the painting are very unexpressive. In another one, “Crucifixion With a Donor”[fig 3], you Christ on the cross with some people surrounding him. Personally, I think the most interesting thing about this painting is that it takes place in a scene that would have been common in the German and Dutch areas, rather than in the sands of Jerusalem. The faces are completely devoid of any emotion, and the man kneeling just does not work at all. It looks like he should be floating, which is a good sign that it’s an early piece. I find these types of things common among his early works. If you look at “Ecce Homo”[fig 4] and “Christ Carrying the Cross” [fig 5] you’ll also see that he crammed far too many people into far too small of a place.
What I think to be the best example of his early work is “Epiphany”[fig 6]. The people around the table of long and oddly bent necks, the person on the right wearing white has incredibly skinny legs, the way the baby looks too developed for it’s age, with it’s neck being able to support it’s head and arms firmly outstretched. The way it’s being held with open palms is not something than anybody should ever try with a baby. Ever. The scales and perspective are off. The man in green is really, really small compared with the virgin and the other people. The virgin herself looks like a giant. The wall behind the virgin where the guards are leaning looks maybe a few feet, if that, away. But the guards look as though they should be much farther than that to be that size. Hence the perspective is off. The people in the painting look as though they are being forced to act out a scene. A scene that they have already acted out far too many times already that day. They are bored, their placement is too perfect, and it’s just as though they want it to end, now… But, as the years progressed, so did Bosch’s talent until he was able to produce the triptychs and unpleasant paintings that he did.
“The Garden of Earthly Delights”[fig 1], one of my favourite paintings, and not just by this artist. I love the chaos and the surrealism in it. There are so many realistic things in this fantasy world; the irony and symbolism runs thick and everything seems to move. It’s very dark and very real, yet very bright and very cartoonish at the same time. I just can’t get enough of it. What the Garden of Earthly Delights is a triptych, or a painting that has been broken into three sections - the middle being the garden and the wings being heaven and hell and closes like a cabinet. I will look at each of these three sections. I won’t, however, be looking at the front of it. What it looks like closed (meaning, the front of it) can be seen in fig. 7. The three inner panels are the “central panel”[fig 8], “Heaven panel”[fig 9] on the left and the “Hell panel”[fig 10] on the right.
Lets look at the “Heaven panel” [fig 9]. It’s fairly basic, not nearly as much going on as there is in the central panel, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Adam has just awoken to see the being that was created from his rib. And, unlike Bosch’s early works, you can see some emotion on his face. He looks very happy, surprised with some anticipation thrown in. Eve, with a look of modesty on her face, and some sadness, almost, as if she has foreknowledge of the evil that she will do. But there is great skill involved with this work - Eve’s flowing red hair; the folds and the lighting on Jesus’ robe; the small but detailed animals around and in the pond; exotic animals, including elephants and unicorns; the pink structure in the middle being the Fountain of Youth; the mountains in the background that look like they were carved out of the living, breathing rock. I just love the fact that in the foreground, we have a visual representation of a story that everybody knows surrounded by things nobody has or ever will see. And when looked at beside the central panel, it’s so orderly and uninteresting because we have those nude figures running around enjoying themselves in anyway they can imagine. But when you really look into you, you see that this is in fact very chaotic yet very still at the same time. Adam is frozen in time, that look of anticipation and pure happiness on his face, yet the world goes on around him. Animals spring forth from the pond, eating each other, fly out in massive flocks from the depths of a mountain. And he just sits there, smiling away. It is the picture of his first love, the first love, your first love, just before it’s realized. It’s a thing of beauty, mixed with the slimy amphibians and cats with rats in their mouths, silly looking mountains and a big pink fountain.
With this triptych’s central panel[fig 8], you can see hundreds of nude figures, each involved in some bizarre act of play. This is earth, after the creation of Adam and Eve[fig 11] and is a progression of sin. They have been exiled from Eden, had children and then their children and their children’s children were brought to this wonderful land of play. It’s a bizarre scene, to be sure, and almost frightening in some ways. There are enormous animals [fig 12] with people dancing, groping and riding on them. Either a strange creature from the depths of the most creative imaginations that has four legs and four arms with an owl head, or, two people with a fruit of some sort on their upper body and an owl perched on top [fig 13]. I have absolutely no idea what to think of this. What does it mean? How does this affect me? Why is this creature in this wonderland, rather then the horror of hell? It asks many questions and answers none. Now, if you kindly direct your attention to fig 14, “Water Creatures”, you can several funny scenes happening. A mermaid being courted by something that looks like it’s out of a science fiction film; there is a team of the same creatures feeding a large fish and bunch of people going into a large egg. I can’t help at ask myself ‘Why?’ Then of course there is the big group of people sitting around what looks like a really big, spiked strawberry. Moving on, there are the buildings up top [fig 15] [fig 16]. These look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book and resemble the mountains from the Heaven panel. They are large, pink and blue with fountains and sculptures that seem alive (maybe they are, I don’t know). The buildings seem to be half architecture and half plant; there is a large horn, of some sort, that instead of playing music has birds flowing out of it [fig 16]. People and things are crawling over them, in them, out them - twirls of shape and colour. They resemble nothing, but you know what they are. And they look vaguely familiar. As if you’ve seen it before, which is of course absurd. But you have all of these things, these silly, nonsensical scenes, put together as a piece of theatre that’s being acted out right in front of you all at once. The figures seem to move and flow, yet they remain motionless; and you don’t know what they are doing or why they are doing it. You just know that you wish you were there with them, without a care in the world. Courting mermaids or climbing living buildings; picking the fruit from the trees or swimming in the lake and riding the horses and birds; running into a giant egg or being carried in a clam. All the sense of duty, responsibility and modesty has been thrown out the window and you just do it. You want to do it because you can; because it’s fun; because you want to. It is the progression of sin. They have deviated from Gods way. And, in the last and final panel, you see how they suffer. They lived a life filled with performing sinful acts, and in the mind of an extremely orthodox Catholic from the Middle Ages, this deserves the most unimaginable horrors of Hell[fig 10].
The “Hell panel”[fig 10] - found on the right of the triptych - is without a doubt one of the most strange, obscene, pornographic and beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I don’t even know where to begin with this thing… Well, like the other two panels, everybody is naked. But there are many, many demons mixed in with these humans rather than pretty and exotic animals. These demons facilitate the rape, torture, murder and punishment of these humans - as this is hell. You can see a man that was once greedy being coerced to sign some sort of contract or legal document by a pig [fig 17]. It’s all very barbaric irony, really. In fig 18, you can see a hunter being hunted down by a rabbit and it’s dogs. You can see a “bird-headed monster at lower right gobbles up the damned souls only to defecate them into a transparent chamber pot from which they plunge into a pit below.”[ 3[ [fig 19]. In fig 19 you can also see a once proud woman staring endlessly into the mirrored backside of a demon whose thin, root-like hands is molesting her body. In the same detail, you can also see a glutton being forced to regurgitate his meals into a pit and a man who seems to be stuck in a horn (you can se his hand sticking out the end) which is being held up by a man with another horn that seems to be attached to his forehead, and a flute which is coming out of his anus. There is even more in this painting, which is quite scary. I can’t fathom how anybody could come up with these nightmares. You are have to look at it. It’s too bizarre not to. The triptych is designed to be read, almost like a book; from left to right. You start with the creation, progress towards the sinners of the earth, and finish here. Here, where the nude humans dance with the demons to some sort of bagpipe music[fig 20]. Here, where falcons eat and then excrete whole people. It’s MEANT to shock and horrify. You are supposed to be scared by this. It’s harkening back to the belief that people should be scared into believing.
The last of Bosch’s paintings that I’ll be looking at is the “Seven Deadly Sins”[fig 21]. This painting is attributed to one of his earlier works and is of a style and theme that he later becomes known for. The painting is a progression of life. You have Christ and God in the center, watching out over their people. Surrounding them are each of the seven deadly sins. In each of the four corners are the four progressions of death. Let’s take a look, shall we?
The first sin I’ll look at, quickly, is anger[fig 22]. The picture that I have of it is of low quality, at best, but you get the idea that it’s trying to convey. You see two men throwing things about at each other over a woman. Anger and jealousy are very deadly sins indeed. One of these two men will probably die. In fig 23, you have lust. Two lovers seeking cover in an open tent to be with each other, and being entertained by some fools. You can really clearly see that they this is one of his early works in this detail because scale and perspective have been distorted in order to make the picture work. Idleness is represented by a man who doesn’t want to wake for church[fig 24]. You can see a judge allowing himself to be bribed, clearly showing greed[fig 25].
One of the better depicted sins in the painting is Envy[fig 26]. The mother and father are shown again in the same section as the dogs below them. What is going on in this painting is the parents are looking for a suitor for their daughter. They already have a good choice whom the daughter obviously likes beside them, and he looks like he could provide well for them judging by his purse, but the parents would rather go for the richer man who can afford falcons and servants. They envy the fact that he is not her suitor. The dogs have two perfectly good bones before them, one for each of them, but they would rather have the nicer bone in the fathers hand. They envy the man and his bone.
In fig 27, you can see grotesque acts of gluttony. The skinny boy spills his beer all over himself as he chugs it down. The man gorges himself, even though he’s already so fat. The small, fat child seems to beg for more food, not even caring at the fact that he just defecated him his clothes. It really is very disgusting, and it’s plain to see how it can be considered a deadly sin. It’s selfish, unhygienic, and breeds the other deadly sins as well.
Pride[fig 28]; my favourite portion of this entire work of art. You have a woman - a prideful, sinful woman; she is surrounded by all her worldly possessions – her china; her jewelry; her oranges; it’s all there. And she is standing there, staring at herself in a mirror and adjusting her headdress. She’s so engrossed by all of this that she can’t see the fact that her mirror is being held by a devil. And this is my favourite part of my favourite portion of one of my favourite paintings; this devil is wearing the same headdress as the woman. The symbolism is so thick you can cut it with a knife. It’s basically saying to this woman in the painting “This is what you are, a devil; a demon; a nasty sinner; and you can’t even realize it.”. It’s positively awful. I just cannot get enough of it. I find humour in it; I find sadness and pity in it; I find ignorant bliss in it. It’s just wonderful…
In the four corner, as I stated earlier, are the four progressions of death. You see the death of a man in fig 29 and in the top left corner of the full painting[fig 21]. Then, the soul will move over to Last Judgment[fig 30] in the top right hand corner. The fate of the soul must then be determined. Will the soul go to heaven[fig 31] or hell[fig 32]? Heaven is seen as a very bright, very quiet place; nothing really going on, just the angels and the good souls. A contrast to hell, where people are raped and tortured, strange animals being created, strange hills and strange demons. It’s a scene we’ve seen somewhere before - earlier, in the Hell of The Garden of Earthly Delights. The demons are there, the torture is there, the over all unnerving-ness of everything. It’s all there.
Bosch’s style is one all on it’s own. It’s not like the other Netherlandish paintings, and it’s comparable, but not the same as modern day surrealism. His technical skill was not that of Da Vinci, Caravaggio or Jan van Eyck. The characters and colours can be cartoonish at times. But they had some real passion in them. This man took the worst things from his heart and soul and put them on canvas for us to look at, learn from, or just enjoy their disturbing beauty. He certainly was far ahead of his time.

[1] I found some conflicting information on this, but the generally accepted date is 1516
[2] Taken directly from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch/
[3] Taken directly from http://www.wga.hu/html/b/bosch/3garden/ ... right.html

by **peanutsdad** on Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:16 pm

Hecter is the greatest, he did a fantastic job. I could not find anything else wrong except what he pointed out. Nicely done there sir. a very good report.