Jesse Latimer
ARTH 2302-002
Feb. 28, 2018
Heironymus Bosch
Born in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands around 1450 to a family of painters, Heironymus Bosch was part of lineage of profound Dutch artist. Few details of his life remain definitive apart from his works, a few documents, and his death in 1516. By the 1470’s, Bosch was active as an artist, and like most artist of his time, turned to the Bible for subject matter. Due to Bosch not dating his works, it’s difficult to build a chronology of his life and career. However, the use of strong symbolism and humor remained constant throughout his artistic career. Additionally, Bosch addressed the common belief in magic of the 15th century in some of his early works. Bosch was part of an artistic and literary tradition of portraying men as fools and exposing the folly of man. Additionally, Bosch had a keen interest in portraying the damnation of man and hell itself. Bosch’s imaginative and vivid depictions of hell and sin were revolutionary in the art world. However, in many of his works, humor was not always lost in horror, for example, Bosch’s Seven Deadly Sins.
Bosch’s best-known works were triptychs, which were very common in European art during his time. Triptychs allowed for dramatic and almost theatrical presentations of the work, Bosch would portray the journey from heaven to hell from the far-left panel to the far right. Bosch’s paintings served as warnings that death was always near and to the eternal consequences of earthly sin and folly. The unique and fantasti...
