Triptych "Garden" earthly pleasures"is the most famous and mysterious of Bosch's works. In 1593, it was acquired by the Spanish King Philip II, who liked the artist's works. Since 1868, the triptych has been in the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Garden of Earthly Delights Around 1500 Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain
The central part of the triptych is a panorama of a fantastic “garden of love”, inhabited by many naked figures of men and women, unprecedented animals, birds and plants. Lovers shamelessly indulge in lovemaking in ponds, in incredible crystal structures, hiding under the skin of huge fruits or in shell flaps.
Mixed with human figures were animals of unnatural proportions, birds, fish, butterflies, algae, huge flowers and fruits. 
In the composition of “The Garden of Earthly Joys” three plans are distinguished:
“various joys” are shown in the foreground. There is luxury pond and fountain, flowers of absurdity and castles of vanity. 
The second plan is occupied by a motley cavalcade of numerous naked horsemen who ride deer, griffins, panthers and boars - nothing more than a cycle of passions passing through a labyrinth of pleasures. 
Third (farthest) - getting married blue sky, where people fly on winged fish and with the help of their own wings.
All these characters and scenes, taking place among intricate combinations of plants, rocks, fruits, glass spheres and crystals, are united not so much by the internal logic of the narrative, but by symbolic connections, the meaning of which was understood differently by each new generation.
cherries, strawberries, strawberries and grapes, eaten with such joy by people, symbolize sinful sexuality, devoid of the light of divine love
birds become the personification of lust and debauchery. A loving couple has secluded themselves in a transparent bubble. A little higher, a young man is hugging a huge owl, to the right of the bubble in the middle of the pool, in the water, another man is standing on his head, legs spread wide, between which the birds have built a nest.
Not far from him, a young man, leaning out of a pink hollow apple with his beloved, feeds a monstrous bunch of grapes to people standing up to their necks in water. 
fish is a symbol of restless lust,
the shell is feminine. 
At the bottom of the picture, a young man hugged a huge strawberry. IN Western European art strawberries served as a symbol of purity and virginity 
The scene with a bunch of grapes in the pool is a communion, and a giant pelican, having picked up a cherry (a symbol of sensuality) on its long beak, teases with it the people sitting in the bud of a fantastic flower. The pelican itself symbolizes love for one's neighbor.
The artist often gives a specifically sensual sound to the symbols of Christian art, reducing them to the material and bodily plane 
In the Tower of Adultery, which rises from the Lake of Lust and whose yellow-orange walls sparkle like crystal, deceived husbands sleep among the horns. The steel-colored glass sphere in which lovers indulge in caresses is topped with a crescent moon crown and pink marble horns. The sphere and glass bell sheltering the three sinners illustrate the Dutch proverb: “Happiness and glass - how short-lived they are!” They are also symbols of the heretical nature of sin and the dangers it brings to the world. 
The left side of the "Garden of Delights" depicts the scene of the "Creation of Eve", and Paradise itself glitters and shimmers with bright, sparkling colors 
Various animals graze among the green hills, against the backdrop of the fantastic landscape of Paradise, around a pond with a bizarre structure.
This is the Fountain of Life, from which various creatures emerge onto land. 
In the foreground, near the Tree of Knowledge, the master shows the awakening Adam. Adam, who has just woken up, rises from the ground and looks in amazement at Eve, whom God shows him.
The famous art critic C. de Tolnay notes that the surprised look that Adam casts at the first woman is already a step on the path to sin. And Eve, extracted from Adam’s rib, is not just a woman, but also an instrument of seduction.
As usual with Bosch, no idyll exists without an omen of evil, and we see a pit with dark water, a cat with a mouse in its teeth (the cat is cruelty, the devil) 
Several incidents cast a dark shadow on peaceful life animals: a lion devours a deer, a wild boar pursues a mysterious beast.
And above it all rises the Source of Life - a hybrid of plant and marble rock, a soaring Gothic structure set on the dark blue stones of a small island. At the very top of it there is still a barely noticeable crescent, but already from within it an owl peeks out, like a worm, the messenger of misfortune. 
The fabulous paradise of the central panel gives way to the nightmare of Hell, in which the excitement of passion is transformed into the madness of suffering. The right wing of the triptych - Hell - is dark, gloomy, alarming, with individual flashes of light piercing the darkness of the night, and with sinners who are tormented by some kind of giant musical instruments. 
As always with Bosch when depicting Hell, the burning city serves as the background, but here the buildings not only do not burn, but rather they explode, throwing out jets of fire. The main theme is chaos, in which normal relationships are turned upside down, and ordinary objects are turned upside down. 
In the center of Hell there is a huge figure of a monster, this is a kind of “guide” to Hell - the main “storyteller”. His legs are hollow tree trunks, and they rest on two ships.
Satan's body is an open eggshell; on the brim of his hat, demons and witches either walk or dance with sinful souls... Or lead people guilty of unnatural sin around a huge bagpipe (a symbol of masculinity). 
Around the ruler of Hell, the punishment of sins takes place: one sinner was crucified, pierced by the strings of a harp; next to him, a red-bodied demon conducts a hellish orchestra singing from notes written on the buttocks of another sinner. Musical instruments (as a symbol of voluptuousness and debauchery) are turned into instruments of torture. 
In a high chair sits a bird-headed monster, punishing gluttons and gluttons. He stuck his feet into beer jugs, and put a bowler hat on his bird's head. And he punishes sinners by devouring them and then they plunge into a pit, the glutton is forced to continuously vomit into the pit, the vain woman is caressed by monsters. 
The Door of Hell represents the third stage of the Fall, when the earth itself turned into hell. Objects that previously served sin have now become instruments of punishment. These chimeras of a guilty conscience have all the specific meanings of the sexual symbols of dreams.
The harmless rabbit (in the picture it is larger than a human) in Christianity was a symbol of the immortality of the soul and abundance. In Bosch, he plays the horn and lowers the sinner head down into the fire of hell. 
Below, on an icy lake, a man balances on a large skate, which carries him to the ice hole. A huge key attached to the shaft by a monk reveals the latter’s desire for marriage, which is prohibited for members of the clergy.
A helpless male figure struggles with the amorous advances of a pig, dressed as a nun. 
“In this horror there is no salvation for those mired in sins,” says Bosch pessimistically.
On outer surface closed doors, the artist depicted the Earth on the third day of creation. It is shown as a transparent sphere, half filled with water. The outlines of land emerge from the dark moisture. In the distance, in the cosmic darkness, the Creator appears, watching the birth of a new world... 
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And so it became.
10 And God called the dry land earth, and the meeting of the waters he called seas. And God saw that [it] was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, grass yielding seed, fruitful trees, bearing fruit according to its kind, in which is its seed on the earth.” And so it became.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, grass yielding seed according to its kind, and tree yielding fruit, in which is its seed according to its kind. And God saw that [it] was good.
13 And there was evening, and there was morning: the third day.
Old Testament Genesis 1
The format of the triptych is traditional for Dutch altarpieces, but the content shows that Bosch did not intend it for a church.
In 2016, it is difficult to name an artist whose name would be heard more often than Hieronymus Bosch. He died 500 years ago, leaving behind three dozen paintings, where every image is a mystery. Together with Snezhana Petrova we will take a walk through Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights” and try to understand this bestiary.
“The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Bosch (picture enlarges by clicking)
Plot
Let's start with the fact that none of the currently available interpretations of Bosch's work is recognized as the only correct one. Everything we know about this masterpiece - from the time of creation to the name - is the hypothesis of the researchers.
The names of all Bosch's paintings were invented by researchers of his work
The triptych is considered programmatic for Bosch not only because of its semantic load, but also due to the diversity and sophistication of the characters. The name was given to it by art historians, suggesting that the central part depicts a garden of earthly pleasures.
On the left wing there is a story about the creation of the first people and their communication with God. The Creator introduces Eve to the stunned Adam, who until now has been bored alone. We see heavenly landscapes, exotic animals, unusual images, but without excesses - only as confirmation of the richness of God's imagination and the diversity of living beings created by him.
Apparently, it is no coincidence that the episode of the acquaintance of Adam and Eve was chosen. Symbolically, this is the beginning of the end, because it was the woman who broke the taboo, seduced the man, for which together they went to earth, where, as it turned out, not only trials, but also a garden of pleasures awaited them.
However, sooner or later you have to pay for everything, as evidenced by the right wing, which is also called musical hell: to the sound of numerous instruments, monsters launch torture machines, where those who just recently carefreely wandered through the garden of pleasures suffer.
On the reverse side of the doors is the creation of the world. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.” (Gen. 1:1-2).
With his work, Bosch apparently promoted piety
Image on the back of the doors
The headline sin in the triptych is voluptuousness. In principle, it would be more logical to name the triptych “The Garden of Earthly Temptations” as a direct reference to sin. What seems an idyll to a modern viewer, from the point of view of a person at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. Ekov was an obvious example of how not to behave (otherwise - on the right wing, if you please).
Most likely, Bosch wanted to show the pernicious consequences of sensual pleasures and their ephemeral nature: aloe digs into naked flesh, coral firmly grips the body, the shell slams shut, turning the loving couple into its prisoners. In the Tower of Adultery, whose orange-yellow walls sparkle like crystal, deceived husbands sleep among the horns. The glass sphere in which lovers indulge in caresses, and the glass bell sheltering three sinners, illustrate the Dutch proverb: “Happiness and glass - how short-lived they are.”
Hell is depicted as bloodthirstyly and unambiguously as possible. The victim becomes the executioner, the prey the hunter. The most common and harmless objects everyday life, growing to monstrous sizes, turn into instruments of torture. All this perfectly conveys the chaos reigning in Hell, where the normal relationships that once existed in the world are inverted.
Bosch helped copyists steal his stories
By the way, not long ago, a student at Oklahoma Christian University, Amelia Hamrick, deciphered and transcribed for piano the musical notation that she saw on the body of a sinner lying under a giant mandolin on the right side of the picture. In turn, William Esenzo, an independent artist and composer, made a choral arrangement for the “hellish” song and composed the words.
Context
The main idea that connects not only the parts of this triptych, but, apparently, all of Bosch’s works is the theme of sin. This was generally a trend at that time. It’s virtually impossible for the common man not to sin: you’ll say the Lord’s name in vain, you’ll drink or eat too much, you’ll commit adultery, you’ll envy your neighbor, you’ll fall into despondency—how can you stay clean?! Therefore, people sinned and were afraid, they were afraid, but they sinned anyway, and they lived in fear of God’s judgment and waited for the end of the world from day to day. The Church fueled (figuratively through sermons and literally at bonfires) people’s faith in the inevitability of punishment for violating God’s law.
A few decades after Bosch's death, a widespread movement began to revive bizarre fantasy creatures. Dutch painter. This surge of interest in Boschian motifs, which explains the popularity of the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, was reinforced by the widespread use of engraving. The hobby lasted for several decades. Special success had engravings illustrating proverbs and scenes from folk life.
The surrealists called themselves the heirs of Bosch
"The Seven Deadly Sins" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
With the advent of surrealism, Bosch was taken out of storage, dusted off and rethought. Dali declared himself his heir. The perception of images from Bosch’s paintings has seriously changed, including under the influence of the theory of psychoanalysis (where would we be without Freud when it comes to releasing the subconscious). Breton even believed that Bosch “wrote” on canvas any image that came to his mind—in fact, he kept a diary.
Here's another interesting fact. Bosch painted his paintings using the a la prima technique, that is, he laid oil not in several layers, waiting for each of them to dry (as, in fact, everyone did), but in one. As a result, the picture could be painted in one session. This technique became very popular much later - among the Impressionists.
Modern psychology can explain why Bosch's works are so attractive, but cannot determine the meaning they had for the artist and his contemporaries. We see that his paintings are full of symbolism from opposing camps: Christian, heretical, alchemical. But what Bosch actually encrypted in this combination, we will, apparently, never know.
The fate of the artist
Talk about the so-called creative career Bosch is quite difficult: we do not know the original titles of the painting, none of the paintings indicate the date of creation, and the author’s signature is the exception rather than the rule.
Bosch's legacy is not to say numerous: three dozen paintings and a dozen drawings (copies of the entire collection are kept in the center named after the artist in his hometown's-Hertogenbosch). His fame over the centuries was ensured mainly by triptychs, of which seven have survived to this day, including the “Garden of Earthly Delights”.
Bosch was born into a family of hereditary artists. It is difficult to say whether he chose this path himself or did not have to choose, but, apparently, he learned to work with materials from his father, grandfather and brothers. He performed his first public works for the Brotherhood of Our Lady, of which he was a member. As an artist, he was entrusted with tasks where he had to use paints and brushes: painting anything and everything, designing festive processions and ritual sacraments, etc.
At some point, it became fashionable to order paintings from Bosch. The artist’s list of clients is full of such names as the ruler of the Netherlands and King of Castile, Philip I the Fair, his sister Margaret of Austria, and the Venetian cardinal Domenico Grimani. They laid out large sums of money, hung canvases in their homes and frightened the guests with all the mortal sins, hinting, of course, at the same time at the piety of the owner of the house.
Bosch's contemporaries quickly noticed who was now on the hype, caught up with the wave and began copying Hieronymus. Bosch came out of this situation in a specific way. Not only did he not throw tantrums about plagiarism, he even supervised the copyists! He went into the workshops, watched how the copyist worked, and gave instructions. Yet these were people of a different psychology. Bosch probably wanted to ensure that there were as many paintings depicting devilish images that frightened mere mortals as possible, so that people would keep their passions in check and not sin. And moral education was more important for Bosch than copyright.
His entire inheritance was distributed among his relatives by his wife after the artist’s death. Actually, there was nothing more to distribute after him: apparently, all the earthly goods that he had were bought with the money of his wife, who came from a wealthy merchant family.
with the Gothic towering above everything St. John's Cathedral, having an almost hypnotic effect on the people of that time, who lived in terrible religious fear of hellish torment for earthly sins...
in the dark world of the Inquisition and endless wars...
darkness has descended on this world, covering everything around, leaving only animal horror...
Only one thing could save their souls - frantic prayers, raising their eyes to the sky...
Bosch, being a deeply religious man, created his creations following the Bible word for word. He, like everyone living in the 15th century, revered and knew it by heart, believing in God and the devil, sins and temptations, and in addition, he was a member of a religious brotherhood that preached strict adherence to religious dogmas. In his works, the artist gives morals to his own and future generations, encrypted in symbols and, at first glance, seemingly incomprehensible, fantastic plots. But everything becomes clear, you just have to learn more about the time when the artist lived, what he breathed, what worried him, immerse yourself in his paintings, the atmosphere of that era in order to understand his feelings and aspirations, and, of course, you need to know perfectly The Bible.
We will do it, or rather we will try, all together, just carefully study and consider every centimeter of his greatest creation - "The Garden of Earthly Delights"(by the way, the title of the picture was not given by the author).
To understand, you have to feel. Let's get started!
Psalm 32
"6. By the word of the Lord the heavens were created, and by the spirit of the mouth
His is all their army:
7. He collected like heaps, sea waters, put
abysses in the vaults."
Psalter
The picture is filled with symbols, woven from them, where one smoothly flows into the other... It is known that Bosch uses symbolism generally accepted in the Middle Ages bestiary- “unclean” animals: in his paintings there are camel, hare, pig, horse, stork and many others. Toad, in alchemy meaning sulfur, is a symbol of the devil and death, like everything dry - trees, animal skeletons.
Other frequently encountered symbols:
. ladder- a symbol of the path to knowledge in alchemy or sexual intercourse;
. inverted funnel- an attribute of fraud or false wisdom;
. key (often shaped not intended for opening) - cognition or sexual organ;
. severed leg, traditionally associated with mutilation or torture, and for Bosch it is also associated with heresy and magic;
. arrow- thus symbolizes “Evil”. Sometimes it sticks out across a hat, sometimes it pierces bodies, sometimes it’s even stuck into the anus of a half-naked person (which also means a hint of “Depravity”);
. owl- in Christian paintings can be interpreted not in the ancient mythological sense (as a symbol of wisdom). Bosch depicted an owl in many of his paintings; he sometimes introduced it in contexts to persons who behaved treacherously or indulged in mortal sin. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the owl serves evil as a night bird and predator and symbolizes stupidity, spiritual blindness and the ruthlessness of everything earthly.
. black birds- sin
A significant number of Bosch's symbols are alchemical. Alchemy in the late Middle Ages was a unique cultural phenomenon, clearly bordering on heresy, a fantastic version of chemistry. Its adherents sought to transform base metals into gold and silver with the help of an imaginary substance - the “philosopher’s stone”. Bosch gives alchemy negative, demonic features. The alchemical stages of transformation are encrypted in color transitions; jagged towers, trees hollow inside, fires, being symbols of Hell, at the same time hint at fire in the experiments of alchemists; a sealed vessel or a melting forge is also an emblem of black magic and the devil.
We see references to Bible.
God creates our world, observing from the side (see. top part left. On the reverse side of the triptych).
“... but steam rose from the ground and watered the entire face of the earth.”
Bible, Old Testament
Bosch only knew the Latin version, where steam was listed as a fountain, so in the center of the picture we see fountain.
In many paintings we can see his face, he seems to be observing the viewer’s reaction, trying to catch the mood, wanting to understand whether his subjects help in understanding the common truths, in human weaknesses and his desire to fight them to the end.
Hieronymus Bosch « Prodigal son", OK. 1510. Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum. Rotterdam
The general picture of naked bodies now seems something lustful, perverted, but it is not so...
Bosch exposes human vices through naked people, because on the day Last Judgment We will all appear as we came into this world, without anything, nothing will be hidden from God.
The artist condemns the world for its vices and sins.
Selfishness
Greed
Gluttony
Birds- a symbol of vice. Bosch uses them to attack the church, which condones the development of all these vices.
At that time they were developed sects, we see them in the form of several groups that move counterclockwise. (see people walking in a circle)
He contrasts two teachings with each other: theology with his myopia and useless arguments, led by a cardinal in red, associated with eternal admiration for Rome. AND pure faith of brotherhood, on the other hand, symbolizing his true tenets.
At the top right we see three people under a transparent dome, monk and his disciples who look at this sinful world with horror.
Fear of unbridled music, not religious and not respecting Christ and God. This is what will happen to them.
Each of the details is significant, and there is no end to them.
His paintings are written with a purpose edification. The artist wanted to arouse curiosity, the audience had to ask questions and receive answers - they learned.
Interestingly, thirty years after Bosch's death, Pieter Bruegel the Elder We ordered paintings in the style of Bosch. In 1557 he writes cycle of seven engravings with Deadly Sins And. I will give some of them.
Envy, 1558
Gluttony, 1558
Avarice, 1558
Subsequently, this style was nicknamed "A cruel joke", and the artist himself received the nickname "Peter the Clown". Everyone who subsequently collected Bosch's paintings was considered strange, for example the king Philip II, who was sure that this was a satire on everything sinful, not considering Bosch’s work to be heretical, as it was perceived at that time.
A Siguenza This is how he assessed Bosch’s work:
“The difference between this man’s work and the work of other artists is that while others try to depict people as they look on the outside, he has the courage to depict them as they are on the inside.”
And in the 20th century, his paintings received a second life through the prism of the theories of Freud and Jung. His sexy and depraved naked bodies attract the attention of our contemporaries, but this is NOT what he wanted to say as a devout Catholic.
Another meaning was invested, completely different...
P.S. During the study of the artist’s work and his paintings "The Garden of Earthly Delights" I accidentally came across one entertaining story Based on one of the fragments, it’s up to you to believe or not.
One of the visitors, a student named Amelia Hamrick from Oklahoma Christian University, became interested in the notes depicted on the butt of a reclining man, and asked a “childish” question: “What are these notes?”
But I didn’t receive an answer to it. Nowhere. The student was surprised by such sluggish interest in the painting, filled with allegories and symbols. Then she decided to restore the melody herself.
Based on the fact that the most popular key in medieval chorales was C major, Amelia rewrote the notes according to modern system. The durations are not indicated in the picture, so the student did not make any guesses on this matter. And this is what she did, performed by the Christian University student choir.
Hieronymus Bosch is one of the greatest and most mysterious artists of the Northern Renaissance. And we are talking not only about the life of the master, because very little is known about it. His paintings are ambiguous and full of hidden messages. Art critics never tire of studying them and discovering new facets in the artist’s work.
Biography of Hieronymus Bosch
The history of the master’s biography is laconic, since very few documented facts have survived to this day. Hieronymus Bosch is the pseudonym of the painter. His real name is Hieron van Aken. Translated from Dutch into Russian, the word “bosch” means “forest”. Why was this nickname chosen? It is unlikely that we will get an answer to this question. But this detail characterizes the artist’s personality very clearly.
The exact date of birth of Hieron van Aken is unknown. Historians tend to believe that this happened around 1460 in the small Dutch town of 's-Hertogenbosch. Here the painter spent almost his entire life. Hieron's family came from the German city of Aachen. His grandfather and father were artists. It was they who passed on the basics of craftsmanship to Bosch. But the young man traveled around Holland for several years and honed his style under the guidance famous painters of that time.
In 1480 Hieron returned to 's-Hertogenbosch. Already at that time he was recognized as a very promising master and was popular. In 1481, Hieron married Aleid van de Merwenne, a girl from an aristocratic and very wealthy family. This circumstance was of great importance for his work. The artist did not need to grab any orders to feed his family. He got the opportunity to develop his creativity.
Quite quickly, the fame of Hieronymus Bosch spread far beyond the borders of Holland. He receives a lot of orders from the nobility and richest people Europe, including the royal houses of Spain and France. The master's paintings have no dates. Therefore, art historians focus only on approximate periods of the painter’s life.
Sometimes Bosch takes regular commissions for portraits. But spiritual themes predominate in his work. Among his contemporaries, the artist was known as a respectable and very religious person; he was a member of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of cathedral St. John's. Only very pious people were accepted into this society.
The artist died in 1516. According to unconfirmed reports, his early death was due to the plague. The wife distributed the artist's meager property to a few relatives. He was not the owner of his wife's dowry, since he signed the marriage contract. Aleid van Aken died three years after the death of her husband.
Alternative version of Bosch's biography
We are talking about versions that are not 100% confirmed in documentary sources. But art historians are not inclined to discard them. This information about the artist explains a lot about his work and is worthy of careful study.
There is a theory that Bosch suffered from schizophrenia. This disease did not appear immediately. Some scientists believe that it was she who led the artist to early death. But we will no longer be able to find out whether this version is true. The story about Bosch's secret beliefs deserves more credibility.
Despite his piety and participation in religious society, the artist belonged to the Adamite sect, which was considered heretical at that time. If Bosch's contemporaries had known about this, he would have been burned at the stake. This hypothesis was first voiced at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries. The famous art critic Wilhelm Frenger agrees with her. A modern researcher of the artist’s work, Linda Harris, is confident that Bosch was an adherent of the “Cathar heresy.”
It is necessary to tell in more detail about the principles of this movement, since the symbols encrypted in the master’s paintings confirm Linda Harris’ version. The Cathars believed that the Prince of Darkness was the Old Testament Jehovah. They considered everything material to be a manifestation of evil. According to this teaching, Jehovah deceived the angels, causing them to fall to earth from a higher spiritual space. Some of them became demons. But some angels still have the opportunity to save their souls. They are forced to be reborn in human bodies.
The "Cathar heresy" rejected the basic tenets of the Catholic faith. The Church brutally persecuted supporters of this teaching, and by the beginning of the 16th century the movement disappeared.
Triptych “Garden of Earthly Delights”
One of interesting works Hieronymus Bosch's painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" is considered. It is Leonardo DiCaprio's favorite work and is mentioned in his documentary film.
Linda Harris is sure that Bosch deliberately distorted the canonical plot. The artist painted a triptych commissioned by the King of Spain and left a secret message for future generations in which he spoke about his true beliefs.
Symbols encrypted in the triptych “Garden of Earthly Delights”
Left wing – Eden during the creation of the first people
It was then that the angels fell, and their souls were trapped in material flesh. On the left flap are encrypted several important symbols telling about the beliefs of the Cathars.
1. Source of life. The structure, decorated with intricate carvings, is located in the center of the composition. He is surrounded by fantastic animals. This element corresponds to the idea of \u200b\u200bIndia at that time, in which, according to the beliefs of the Cathars, the source of life is hidden.
2. An owl that looks out from a sphere in the source. The Bird of Prey became the embodiment of the Prince of Darkness. He carefully observes what is happening and how the angels again and again fall into the trap of earthly temptations.
3. Jesus. Its supporters considered it to be the opposite of the Prince of Darkness. Jesus became the savior of the angels. He reminds immortal souls of the spiritual and helps them get out of the captivity of the material world. In the painting, Jesus warns Adam against temptations, symbolized by Eve.
4. Cat and mouse. A symbol of the soul that finds itself in the grip of the material world.
The central part is a modern Eden
Linda Harris believes that Bosch depicted a place where the souls of angels are reborn and prepare for reincarnation. Its opponents are inclined to believe that in the central part the artist showed the Golden Age - the lost world of universal purity and spirituality, in which man is a harmonious part of nature.
1. People. This fragment is perceived in different ways. According to the traditional view carnal pleasures careless sinners reflect traditional ideas about the popular plot of the “garden of love” for that period of history. If we consider this element from the angle of perception of the Cathars, a symbol of base pleasures arises in a world that for sinful souls has become the illusion of paradise.
2. Cavalcade of horsemen. Some experts are sure that this storyline is a reflection of the cycle of passions that again and again pass through the labyrinth of earthly pleasures. Linda Harris believes that this depicts a circle of reincarnation of souls.
3. Fish. Symbol of anxiety and lust.
4. Strawberry. In the Middle Ages, this berry was a reflection of illusory pleasures.
5. Pearls. According to Cathar teachings, it symbolizes the soul. Bosch depicted pearls in the mud.
Right wing - musical Hell
This is one of the creepiest images of Hell. The allegorical nature of the painting and Bosch’s characteristic style enhance the effect. The right wing depicts a nightmarish reality, the consequences that await angels who failed to break the cycle of rebirth and were mired in the material world.
1. Tree of Death. A monster plant will grow out of the frozen lake. This is a tree man who indifferently watches the disintegration of his own bodily shell.
2. Why are there pictures on the left wing? musical instruments? Experts concluded that Bosch considered secular music sinful, the creation of the Prince of Darkness. In Hell they will turn into instruments of torture.
3. Fire. The fragment in the upper part of the left wing reflects the frailty of material wealth. Houses don't just burn - they explode and turn into black ash.
4. Mythical creature on the throne. Art historians are inclined to believe that this monstrous bird is another image of the Prince of Darkness. He devours the souls of sinners and casts lifeless bodies into the Underworld. A person who indulges in gluttony is condemned to forever vomit everything he eats; a miser will defecate in gold coins until the end of time.
Researchers of Bosch's work still continue to study and analyze the symbols encrypted in the triptych and in other paintings by the artist. Disputes about the meaning of his messages do not stop, because the whole life of the great master is shrouded in mystery. Will art historians be able to solve this mystery? Or will the legacy of the great master remain misunderstood?
Most mysterious artist The Northern Renaissance man may have had a fig in his pocket all his life: in the paintings of a faithful Catholic, the beliefs of a secret heretic are encrypted. Had his contemporaries guessed this, Bosch would probably have been sent to the stake
Painting “The Garden of Earthly Delights”
Wood, oil. 220 x 389 cm
Years of creation: 1490–1500 or 1500–1510
Kept in the Prado Museum in Madrid
Jeroen van Aken, who signed his paintings “Hieronymus Bosch,” was considered a completely respectable person in 's-Hertogenbosch. He was the only artist who was a member of the pious city society, the Brotherhood of Our Lady, at the Cathedral of St. John. However, the artist may have misled his fellow citizens and customers until his death. Suspicions that a heretic was hiding under the guise of a good Catholic were expressed at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries. Historian and art critic Wilhelm Frenger suggested in the mid-20th century that the painter belonged to the Adamite sect. A modern researcher of Bosch's work, Linda Harris, has hypothesized that he was an adherent of the Cathar heresy.
The Cathars taught that the Old Testament Jehovah, the creator of the material universe, is in fact the Prince of Darkness, and matter is evil. The souls of the angels he deceived fell from spiritual world to the ground. Some became demons, others, who still had a chance of salvation, found themselves drawn into a series of rebirths in human bodies. The Cathars rejected the teachings and rituals of the Catholics, considering all this to be the creation of the devil. For several centuries the church eradicated the heresy that had spread throughout Europe, and by the end of the 15th century the Cathars were almost never heard of. Bosch, according to Harris, by deliberately distorting canonical subjects in his paintings, encrypted in numerous symbols a secret message to future generations about his true faith.
Thus, on the left wing of the triptych “The Garden of Earthly Delights” Bosch depicted Eden in the days of the creation of the first people, when the souls of angels were trapped in mortal flesh. The central part, Harris believes, is the same Eden, but of the present time: souls go there between reincarnations, and demons seduce them with earthly temptations so that the former angels forget about the spiritual world and want to reincarnate in the material. The right wing is hell, where after the Last Judgment everyone who failed to break the chain of rebirth will go.
1 Christ.
Jesus was considered by the Cathars to be the antagonist of the Prince of Darkness, the Savior who reminds fallen souls of the spiritual world and helps them get out of the shackles of the material. It is usually believed that on the left wing of the triptych Bosch depicted how God presents Eve, created from a rib, to Adam, but Linda Harris believes that the artist painted Christ warning Adam against earthly temptations, the embodiment of which is the first woman.
2 Cat and mouse.
An animal caught in the teeth of a predator is a hint of souls trapped in the material world.
3 Owl. The night bird of prey present in most of Bosch's paintings is the Prince of Darkness, watching as people fall into his snare again and again.
4 Fountain of Spiritual Death.
A parody of the fountain of living water, an image from the Christian iconography of Eden. The water of the source symbolized the salvation of humanity by faith, the rites of baptism and communion. The Cathars rejected the rituals, in their opinion, of a false religion, which tied souls even more tightly to matter. In Bosch's painting, a sphere is built into the fountain - a symbol of peace. The insidious creator of the Universe looks out from it in the form of an owl.
5 People.
The amorous amusements of careless sinners in the lap of nature, according to Bosch specialist Walter Bosing, are a reference to the courtly plot “garden of love”, popular at that time. But Cathar will see here souls indulging in base carnal pleasures in an illusory “paradise” in anticipation of new incarnations.
6 Pearl.
In the teachings of the Cathars and their ideological predecessors, the Manichaeans, Harris argues, it symbolized the soul, the luminous core from the spiritual world, preserved by the fallen angel on earth. With the increase in the number of people, these souls divided, plunging more and more into matter, which is why Bosch depicted pearls scattered in the mud.
7 Musical instruments.
Italian art historian Federico Zeri believed that the artist placed them in hell, since the expression “bodily music” was well known to people of that time and meant voluptuousness. The Cathars considered lust the worst of sins also because because of it new people are born - captives of the material world.
8 Strawberry.
Art critic Elena Igumnova notes that in the time of Bosch, this berry was considered an alluring fruit without real taste and symbolized illusory pleasures. There are many other berries and fruits in the picture - they all mean earthly temptations.
9 Round dance of horsemen. Linda Harris believes that it symbolizes the circle of reincarnation into which souls are drawn due to earthly passions.
10 Tree of Death. It consists of objects symbolizing the mortal shell of the earth - dried wood and an empty shell. According to Harris, in Bosch this monster plant personifies the true essence of the material world, revealed by the Last Judgment.
Artist
Hieronymous Bosch
Between 1450 and 1460 - born in the Duchy of Brabant in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, or Den Bosch, in whose honor he took the pseudonym Bosch.
Around 1494 or 1495* - painted the triptych “Adoration of the Magi”.
Before 1482, he married a wealthy aristocrat, Aleid van de Merwenne.
1486–1487 - entered the brotherhood of Our Lady at the Cathedral of St. John in 's-Hertogenbosch.
1501–1510 - created the painting “The Seven Deadly Sins”, according to one version, which served as a tabletop.
1516 - died (presumably from the plague), buried in St. John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch.
* There are discrepancies in the dating of Bosch's paintings. “Around the World” hereinafter provides information from the website of the Prado Museum, where the artist’s works mentioned in the article are located.