The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus
Bosch has been interpreted in so many ways. I don't think that this is a painting about
sexual freedom or of a medieval acid trip. This is not Bosh's erotic fantasy or
even a heretical attack on the church. And this is not a painting by a member
of an obscure free love cult. The Garden of Earthly Delights is pure
and simply, hardcore Christianity. THIS is a painting about sin. The garden of Earthly Delights consists of three
oak panels, hinged together so that the outer panels or wings can be closed. The centre panel is
220 by 195 centimetres, and the side panels each, are 220 by 97.5 centimetres. When the panels are
closed, Bosch presents us with a very different image. Triptychs usually had one important Biblical
scene in the middle, with donors or saints either side. But in The Garden of Earthly Delights,
all three panels are equally part of the story. At first glance the painting is chaotic and
overwhelming - but it has been meticulously planned. It has been said that the The Garden of Earthly
Delights ignores linear perspective, which had become the norm in Renaissance art.
But I don't think so. If we look at the dead centre of the panels, we find a hidden egg.
It is the only unhatched egg on this panel. A possible symbol of new beginnings. If we
use this egg as the vanishing point, Bosch's composition has an order - and the action
emanates from the centere of the panel. Then the three panels are linked by a
common horizon line - they divide into three sections: Foreground, Mid-ground and Background.
The foreground contains the most important detail. Each panel in the mid-ground contains a body of water.
A small lake with a fountain, a pool with female bathers, and a frozen lake. The background consists
of towers. Organic in Eden and man-made in Hell. And then in each panel there is a central axis
that your eyes are drawn to. Another way he anchors the three panels is by repetition. A good example
is Adam whose position is repeated in panel two as an Eve figure, and panel three in reverse.
As we will see, all of these visual elements pull The Garden of Earthly Delights together, and were
planned in the early stages. Jan van Eyke didn't invent oil paints, but he did perfect them, one hundred
years before Bosch. In my video on van Eyke, I show how he depicted minute hyper realistic detail,
by building up oil paint in translucent layers, using a tiny brush. Van Eyke didn't leave the
brush strokes or any evidence of the human hand. Bosch differed from the Netherlandish painters
at the time, and used a fairly sketchy style, along with the "Impasto" technique where paint is
thickly applied. And you can clearly see the brush strokes in relief, which gives the surface texture.
Bosch allows us to see the individual at work. The late middle ages were a pivotal moment in
European history. Explorers were discovering new exotic lands, Leonardo da Vinci was painting
"The Mona Lisa", Copernicus proposed that the sun was at the center of our solar system, and
Erasmus was exploring radical new ideas. The last bloody battles of The Hundred Years War had
been fought, and now Christian Europe was facing an onslaught by the Ottoman Empire. It was the eve
of the Reformation and Europe was experiencing the first stirrings of a spiritual crisis, and yet
it was also the height of the Spanish Inquisition. In 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, a man called
Hieronymus Bosch had no idea that a painting he was working on, would still confound and confuse
viewers five centuries after he painted it. We cannot look at Bosch's paintings with modern
sensibilities, for while we may be comfortable with sex as a part of the human condition, in
the Middle ages, sex was seen as contributing to man's fall from grace. This was a time when
European artists, writers, and theologians were shaping a new terrifying vision of Hell AND the
punishment awaiting sinners. Bosch's imagery - no matter how bizarre - is nothing more than a faithful
representation of the world in which he lived. It is an intensely moralistic work that should be
approached as what it is - Religious propaganda. As the 15th century turned into the 16th century,
art got darker. The Garden of Earthly Delights is a compelling way to look back, to a period
that was no longer Medieval but not yet modern. It is often assumed that Hieronymus Bosch is a
Medieval artist - but he is a Renaissance artist. An exact contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and
influenced by the same ideas. Curiosity of thought, a hallmark of the Renaissance fills his
detailed and extremely precise paintings. Bosch was part of the Northern Renaissance,
living and working in 's-Hertogenbosch, commonly known as Den Bosch,
in what is now the Netherlands. The Northern Renaissance artists were not
nearly as well documented as the Italians. In fact we know next to nothing about Bosch's
life. History portrays him as a loner, but we know he was born to a family of artists in THIS house,
and that he was hugely successful and prolific. His real name was Jerome van Aiken and he was
born around 1450. Later he would change his name to reflect Den Bosch the town he lived in. He took
"Hieronymus" for his first name - the Latin for Jerome. When he was a child, a major fire in Den Bosch
burned the Medieval city to the ground. As people panicked and screamed for their lives, he
must have been affected, and it's not too much of a leap to think it inspired his vivid depictions
of hellfire, which we see in many of his works. Den Bosch was a fiercely Catholic city with
over 40 churches, chapels, and monasteries, and a spectacular Gothic Cathedral. One in
every 16 citizens worked for the church. Hieronymus Bosch was a member of a Conservative
Christian organization - "The Illustrious Brotherhood of our Blessed Lady", dedicated to the reverence
of Mary, with their own chapel in St John's Cathedral. He received several commissions
from the brotherhood, which was not just a religious organization, it was also a social
network. Bosch married Aleyt van den Meerveen, a wealthy older woman around 1480. They had no
children and we know Bosch's funeral was in 1516. Records show us that Bosch's work originally
filled the brotherhood's chapel in St. John's Cathedral, and much of his inspiration
would have come directly from the Cathedral. As inventive as he was, his hybrid animals and
monsters, were from a well-established church tradition, exemplified by St. John's Cathedral.
Bosch's creatures were certainly inspired by its Gothic Gargoyles, of curious figures, animals,
and monsters. Elements of gothic architecture inspired him as well, and in 1492 a baptismal
font arrived in St. John's that is not dissimilar in style to Bosch's strange architectural
structures. As part of the brotherhood's inner elite, he had easy access to the Cathedral's
archives and library, and another influence would have been the Medieval manuscripts where
we find "Drollery" or "Grotesques" in the margins. These are small decorative images which are often
humorous or sexual in nature. Many of the images in The Garden of Earthly Delights can be traced
back to the drolleries we see in manuscripts. Books of beasts or "Bestiaries" were amongst the
most popular illuminated texts in Northern Europe. A Bestiary consists of both real and mythical
animals. The main purpose of them was not to teach about the animal kingdom, but to teach people
how to lead the life of a virtuous Christian. Artists would often get their inspiration
from the journals of explorers. The first time most people saw a giraffe was in Syriac
of Ancona's "Egyptian Voyage". Bosch would draw from this book many times over the years, and
other artists would also use it as a template. A busy artist like Bosch would have a
bank of his own images that he would re-use, and we can see images repeated over several
different works of his - again and again. What we think of as Hell, and certainly what Bosch
thought of as Hell, is not based on the Bible. And much of what we think of as Hell comes from
later mistranslations and Medieval art. What Hell is like - or whether it exists in the Bible at all -
is widely disputed, even within modern Christianity. Dante Alighieri's epic poem "The Divine Comedy" from
1320, which describes Dante's journey through the nine circles of Hell, was hugely influential in
European art. An earlier book "The Vision of Tundale" would be a major influence on Bosch. Based on the
12th century visions of an Irish knight, it was part of the Medieval genre of "visionary Infernal
Literature" that helped to define our ideas of Hell. By the time Bosch painted The Garden of Earthly Delights, people firmly believed in Heaven and Hell. Satan became a major figure. Reports
of encounters with demons increased, heretics and witches were burned, and vivid
descriptions of Hell were reproduced in art. Often with paintings, we can look at the person
who commissioned them to give us more insights into the work. In 1517, a year after Bosch died,
we know for a fact that The Garden of Earthly Delights was in the Brussels palace of
Henry III of the Nassau dynasty, the probable patron. The Netherlands at the time
was ruled by Spain under King Philip the Handsome, but the local governors such as
Henry came from the Nassau family. Henry was known as a cultured, educated, and
inquisitive man, and he was transforming his residence into a magnificent Renaissance court. His
art collection was central to that transformation. We know Henry visited Den Bosch with King Philip in
1504, and it was probably during this visit, that he commissioned The Garden of Earthly Delights.
Enigmatic paintings were fashionable in Europe at this time, and Henry would have understood the
originality and intelligent thought involved in the painting. You would typically find Triptychs
in Churches as altarpieces, where the outer panels were kept closed. On special occasions, such as
Holy days, the panels were opened, and the glorious religious scenes inside were revealed to the
congregation. We can only imagine Henry inviting the crowned heads of Europe and their court to
his Palace to see his collection of "objects of wonder", which included a meteorite a giant bed
and this curious painting. The outer panels of The Garden of Earthly Delights could not prepare
his guests for what lay within. Leading them over to this rather dull image of the third day of creation.
Two of his men would open the gloomy panels. People had never seen anything quite like this.
It was a true sensation - like an early form of cinema, that would occupy them for hours - like it
does us - Art historian Reindert Falkenberg believes that The Garden of Earthly Delights
was designed as a kind of "conversation piece". As he points out - its characters are often
pointing or whispering secrets to each other. They are inside the painting, reflecting us
doing the same thing, in front of the painting. It is a perfect reflection of the Renaissance
taste for highly original, intricate allegories, full of meaning - only understood
by a limited and elite audience. By opening the outer panels you are opening up
a world of metaphors and theological problems, starting with the garden itself. The central garden
goes against the basic principle of the time, that artists should portray Biblical
stories that actually happened in the Bible. In the central panel Bosch shows mankind giving
into temptation - a scene anyone familiar with the Bible knows is not depicted in Genesis. It was
only Adam and Eve in the garden. The earth wasn't populated until AFTER the expulsion - so this
is a creation of Bosch's imagination. Just by fictionalising or imagining a scene in the Bible,
Bosch has freed himself to let his dreams run wild. This is new and exciting, as we can see the figures
are unashamed of their nudity, which reflects how Adam and Eve were before the expulsion. A lush
garden would have strong sexual connotations to Bosch's contemporaries. They would have known
about western literature's most famous love garden at the time. Described in the 13th century French
poem "Romance of the Rose" in The Garden of Earthly Delights, Bosch incorporated the same traditional
iconography depicted in "Romance of the Rose". Lush greenery, beautiful flowers, singing birds,
and a fountain in the centre around which the lovers gather to stroll or sing. Water too is
associated with love and lovemaking in Bosch's day. Even representations of "The Fountain of Life"
frequently received an erotic twist. The concept of the Garden of Eden was changing around this period.
It is important to remember that before the age of discovery, it was a widely held belief that the
Garden of Eden still existed somewhere on earth. But as the undiscovered world opened up, revealing
fantastical beasts and landscapes, the feeling was that there was less and less chance of paradise
existing here on earth. It shifted the way people saw the world and perceived paradise, and greatly
influenced Bosch's painting. By making his Garden of Earthy Delights a place of the "imagination"
Bosch was reflecting this shift in thinking. Bosch's images are so ambiguous
and their meaning so elusive that they cannot be addressed by iconography alone. When the outer panels are closed, it shows a
monochrome painting of the creation of the world, on a flat landscape enclosed in a transparent
sphere with God the father looking down. God appears as a tiny luminous figure
in the darkness, his hands are raised which is medieval code to tell us he is
speaking. He is reciting verse 9 of psalm 33 "For he spoke and it was done - for
he commanded and it stood fast" If we look at a later verse from the same psalm
it explains the aerial perspective we see inside. The panels represent the third day of creation,
when God is separating the land from the water, and the earthly paradise or Eden was created.
These exterior doors are designed to act as a prologue to the interior. The use of monochrome or
what is known as "Grisaille" for the outer panels of a Triptych, was quite conventional and is there to
set the stage for the explosion of colour within. There is some vegetation forming and strange
hybrid landscapes, which connect with what we'll see inside, but man has not yet been created
and so not had a chance to abuse God's earth: The theme of the inner panels.
The Nuremberg chronicle published in 1493 was an important source of inspiration
for Bosch and one we will come back to. The first of its more than 1,800 illustrations
shows God the father crowned and enthroned, holding an orb with his left hand and making
a sign of benediction with his right. He also quotes Psalm 33. The dome is peculiar to modern eyes.
In researching this video I used a translation of the Volgate Bible, the first official Bible of the
Catholic Church and the one Bosch would have used. The meaning can often vary from translation to
translation. On day two in Genesis, the Vulgate translated the Hebrew as "God created the sky under
a dome". This is sometimes translated as "Firmament" from the word firm or solid. There was theological
disagreement, but Bosch would have been well aware of this idea that the world was created in a solid
dome, and it was a standard artistic convention. Around this time, science made more discoveries
about the earth, and a solid dome became a big theological problem. By the time Galileo began
examining the sky a hundred years after The Garden of Earthly Delights, the concept of
a solid dome was no longer a common belief. This of course met with opposition from within
the Catholic Church AND accusations of heresy. This panel is sometimes known
as "The joining of Adam and Eve" and shows a scene in the Garden of Eden when
God presents Eve to Adam. God's right hand is raised in blessing while he holds Eve's wrist
with his left. It is an uncommon scene in art. God is very Christ-like and has blonde hair and
blue eyes. It is likely that this image was used to illustrate the belief that Jesus is God
in human form - God Incarnate - We know from infrared scans and analysis that Bosch originally
intended God to be more traditionally portrayed, and he was looking down at Adam. The original plan
was a more classic image we have seen many times. That of god creating Eve from Adam's
rib. But Bosch changed it to the moment when God blesses their union, and urges them to
procreate. He is saying "Be fruitful and multiply". By changing this panel from one of the creation
of Eve, to one that is associated with marriage, it changes the entire reading of the Triptych:T hat
marriage and reproduction are inextricably linked. But the theological questions raised here, is the
role of sexual activity and lust in Eden. Adam, who has just woken up is smiling and wide-eyed
at the sight of Eve - his cheeks are flushed. Eve is looking down innocently, while at the same
time seductively presenting her body to Adam. God as christ is looking directly at us,
so we too are complicit in what is to come. Eve is on the left of God and he is holding
her with his left hand. Left is "Sinistra" in latin or sinister. Adam, however is to God's
right - the place of honour in religious art. Below Eve's feet are rabbits, who for obvious
reasons symbolise fertility. Besides Adam, a tomcat has captured its prey. As anachronistic as
it is to us, to the medieval viewer having a Christ as God in the garden of Eden was common,
and would be seen as an omen of the crucifixion, a direct result of original sin. The point is
emphasised further by the position of Adam's feet which echo Christ on the cross. Over Christ's
shoulder is the tree of life. It is a Dragon blood tree which when cut, releases a dark red pulp,
giving it its name. The flat leaves of the tree resemble the wafers of Eucharist,
and the grapes reference the wine. Giving us a direct link to the body and blood
of Christ. The vaguely crucifix form of the tree, may be the medieval belief that Jesus was
crucified on a cross linked to the tree of life. Bosch would not have known the dragon blood
species found only in tropical climates. Once again the Nuremberg Chronicle is his
source. In this image of the Garden of Eden, we find all three trees in Bosch's painting:
The dragon blood tree, the tree of knowledge, and the date palm, symbolic of Resurrection, which
bosch paints with the serpent waiting to strike. Earthly paradise looks peaceful at first glance.
but it already holds the dark promise of sin. The pool below, is already starting to be populated
by strange creatures, the three-headed bird perhaps points to the trinity. A unicorn representing
purity drinks from the pond on the left. accompanied by a boar, a goat, a horse, a deer and a bull.
These animals are going to reappear in the second panel. The fountain of paradise is a direct link to God,
by being on the same vertical axis and being the same colour as his robes. It is a Christian symbol associated with baptism, and the Eucharist. It serves as a symbol of life,
fertility, and reproduction. Sitting inside it we find the owl,
which is a kind of signature for Bosch. The Garden of Earthly delights has six owls. One owl barely visible is looking down over the entire scene. The
sixth owl will appear later as the Prince of Hell. Contrary to its modern association with
wisdom or intelligence, for many people in the middle ages, the owl, as a nocturnal animal
looking for prey, represented the Devil himself, waiting for an opportunity to strike. In Bosch's
world, evil exists even in the Garden of Eden. Just to the right of the fountain is a
small swan, a symbol of purity and grace. But here I think, a nod to the Illustrious
Brotherhood of the Virgin Mary, who were also called "The Swan's Faternity" as they serve swan
at their banquets. Continuing the theme of hidden dangers in the Garden of Eden, there are a group
of repulsive reptilian amphibious creatures coming ashore. Many of Bosch's paintings feature
toads, which were considered both poisonous AND demonic in the middle ages. And in Hell they
will take on the role of the devil's henchmen. An unusual rock formation is in the form of a weeping face. This is Golgotha or "Skull Hill". It is based on a widespread belief in the Middle Ages, that Adam's skull was buried in a cave as seen here. Underneath the spot where
Jesus would be crucified. 400 years after Bosch painted The
Garden of Earthly Delights, it will inspire the Surrealist movement and
in particular Salvador Dali. Hieronymus Bosch is often seen as a
precursor to the Surrealists who called Bosch "the first modern artist". Unlike the Surrealists we cannot view Bosch's
visions as images from his subconscious. As far as Bosch was concerned, HIS images were
realistic portrayal of sin and its consequences. So in that sense it wasn't "Surrealism" - it was "Realism". This panel is a carnal interpretation and direct corruption
of God's words: "Be fruitful and multiply". In the Vulgate Bible, the Garden of Eden
is referred to as "Paradisum Voluptatis" It might not be the best translation of
the Hebrew, but it is extraordinary. To Bosch, Eden would have been
known as "The Paradise of Pleasure" Explanations like these are not just for
"Art History". Bosch himself - as part of the religious orthodoxy - needed to be able
to explain the theology of his paintings. Everything in this "Paradise of Pleasure"
has some kind of sexual connotation. Hollowed-out fruit is referring to female
genitalia. Two cherries together, male genitalia. In the Middle Ages to "pluck fruit"
in Dutch was a euphemism for sex. And the dutch word "Vogelen" meaning "Bird" was
a double-entendre for sexual intercourse. All of these pleasures are transient
as none of earth's pleasures will last. This fountain is a version of the previous
one. It is surrounded by four towers covered in thorns and spikes, and four rivers
reflecting the Biblical location of Eden. But this fountain is broken and fragile - as
are the delights being enjoyed in the garden. Despite the many naked figures and suggestions
of lust in the image, there are no sexual acts explicitly portrayed, except for THIS scene.
Inside the dark hole in the central sphere of the fountain, a bearded man shamelessly touches
the crotch of a naked young woman as others watch. The owl has gone - and lust has found its way. Follow your eyes up, and we see the crescent moon, a fairly
explicit reference to the Ottoman empire and Islam, The enemies of Christianity in the Middle Ages. We have seen it many times in other works
by Bosch - and we will see it again in Hell. But we have to go to the bottom right hand corner
to find the main message. It is of course debated but I think this is Adam and Eve who are now
fully aware of the existence of "good" and "evil", A concept that didn't exist before the fall of man
according to the Bible. Adam is looking directly at us, as if he's the only one to understand
what's going on. Pointing at Eve as if to say "SHE is to blame". Eve is holding the fruit she has
just picked, and she is gagged by what looks like a communion wafer. This is theologically
controversial and I think it refers to chapter two in "Timothy", one of the
most debated verses in the Bible. Adam and Eve, now aware of shame - are the
only ones wearing clothes in the panel. Animal skins -which ties into the Biblical story. Over Adam's shoulder - it is hard to make out - but
the man behind him has vine leaves on his head. This is pre-flood and I think this is Noah, there
to remind us that Eve's sin will lead to the flood. Noah - as the originator of vineyard
cultivation, often is depicted with vine leaves. Eve is encased within a semi-cylindrical
transparent shield - we see these glass contraptions throughout the painting, and they are the only
man-made objects in this panel. These instruments were associated with alchemists, who were common
in the middle ages but were seen as heretics, meddling with forbidden knowledge. This woman's
body is entirely covered in glistening golden hair, except for her face, hands, and feet, and notably
her breasts. She and other figures like her in the painting are "wild men and women", uncivilised
savages, a popular subject in the age of discovery. In and around the strange
orange tent, you can only see men, some of whom are turning their buttocks towards
each other - a clear reference to homosexuality, that no one in the middle ages would have missed.
Sodomy like all non-reproductive sexual acts are seen as a sin. One of the men is holding a
fish. Like all of the fish in this panel it is out of its element and there to remind us that the
world order is in chaos. In this corner a group of men are having a conversation, while pointing
to Adam and Eve in the previous frame. It is as if they are saying: "THIS is where it all started".
Exactly what henry III's court might be saying. The empty muscle shell should be seen like all
of the empty metaphors Bosch employs: The peeled fruit, The broken egg, The carcasses.
"Emptiness" is lack of spirituality which leads to sin. Pearls are perfectly round and pure white, so often
represent "purity" and "virginity", and the fact that the pearls are falling out of the muscle shell,
tell us exactly what the couple are up to inside. it is this type of "scene within a scene" of visual
conundrums that make me believe the theory that it WAS designed as a "conversation piece". Although the
message overall is cautionary - the piece is highly entertaining. There is a particular focus on the
devouring of grotesquely huge and fleshy fruit. All the fruits featured are soft fruits, whose
taste and fragrance are fragile and transient. Blackberries have multiple seeds, and so stand
in for promiscuity. Fruit of course, has a sexual connotation - thanks to Eve. Although the Bible
doesn't specifically say which fruit Eve ate. And anyway it wasn't "lust" that Eve succumbed to
but "temptation". A common belief in the Middle Ages, was that AFTER Eve gave into temptation, and after
"The Fall" - Eve's next sin was "carnal lust". It's not scriptures - just early misogyny. It's a common misconception, but even today
the viewer mixes up temptation and lust. Here we see a transparent sphere - it contains a man
and a woman umbilically attached to a large flower. This could be a Boschian variation on the "May boats"
depicted in late medieval books, with courting couples. Cracks are appearing in the glass - suggesting
that "Pleasure is as fragile as glass". Keeping watch is another owl,
who has taken a human lover. Bosch's work shows a lot of interracial lovemaking.
In Medieval Europe, "Moors" came to mean anyone who was Muslim or who had dark skin. Views of Africans
in Europe were often negative, and like the "wild men" in The Garden of Earthly Delights, they were
seen as uncivilized sexual beings. The middle of this panel is dominated by the circuit of men
on all kind of mounts, corralling a group of women. In this "dance", the unicorn and other animals
we saw drinking peacefully in the first panel have been corrupted, and now serve as mounts
in the circular procession of lust. Many of the scenes in The Garden of Earthly Delights can be
traced back to the court games of the aristocracy. The "circuit" references Medieval fertility
rituals. Morris dances with several men dancing around a single woman, or around the "May tree".
This parade is something the court of Henry III would have understood. The 14th century
book "Lumen Anime" by Matthias Faronata, was hugely influential in the Netherlands.
Bosch had a preoccupation with the deadly sins, and in this widely read book, Faronata
portrayed the deadly sins as riding animals. Pride wrote a Dromedary, Lust a Bear, Wrath a camel,
Sloth a Leopard and Gluttony a wild cat. The object of their lust, Bosch's bathing women, were
probable nods to the 16th century Dutch expression "Swim in the bath of Venus", which meant being in love.
The women as classical representations of Venus, have a negative "pagan" connotation. Even here
the Venus are involved in a deep conversation. The previous scenes are set in nature, but Hell
is a man-made world. There is nothing here that they have not brought on themselves, and even the
musical instruments they created have turned on them. The demons are clothed, but the humans
- or "souls" - are still naked, but they have lost any element of eroticism, and many of them are
covering their bodies ashamed of their nakedness. What is so extraordinary, is that
the strange creatures in this panel, are painted with the same conviction and realism
as the humans - as though they actually existed. In the bottom right, we find this curious
scene, which for me is the beginning of the panel. A pig, dressed as a nun, is trying
to persuade a soul to sign a document. A helmeted demon offers a quill, and he
has the ink at the ready for him to sign. The red seals, show us this is a serious legal
document. For many historians, this is seen as a critique of the church by Bosch - specifically
the sale of "indulgences". I don't think it is. The wealthy could buy an "indulgence" from the
church to have their sins forgiven, and secure a place in Heaven. It led to widespread corruption,
and only one year after Hieronymus Bosch's death, Martin Luther published his attack on - amongst
other things - the sale of indulgences, leading to the Reformation. In the late 13th century,
work started on a gothic Cathedral in Den Bosch, and there is strong evidence that the church raised most
of the funds required, by selling these indulgences. The Illustrious Brotherhood of our Blessed
Lady, played a key role in the indulgence industry, so Bosch, as a member of the inner elite
was hardly likely to be critical of it. I think this man is being tricked into signing a pact
with the Devil, by the demon disguised as a nun. A major preoccupation in the Middle Ages was the
selling of one's soul in exchange for diabolical favours. It looks like the man is on to them - as
he is casting anxious looks at us the viewer, as if pleading for help. The toad on the notary's
lapel a sign of the Devil's henchmen we saw in the left panel, will appear again and again in Hell.
The helmeted demon offering the pen to sign has a foot, hanging off his helmet, which could refer to an
affliction caused by fungus in bread called "Ergot". Victims suffered from burning sensations and
hallucinations of being attacked by monsters. Limbs, would rot and fall off. In Bosch's time they
thought this condition was caused by possession by demons. In the 1950s, a component
from Ergot was synthesised to produce the psychedelic drug we know today as LSD.
This would inevitably lead to supposition that Bosch painted The Garden of Earthly
Delights while he was tripping. As we've seen, the sin of lust was thought
to give rise to other deadly vices. And once again, Bosch looks to the seven deadly sins.
The deadly sins, again, are not scripture, but were described by Pope Gregory in the 6th century.
By the time of Bosch they were a popular theme in morality plays and hugely influential in art.
Lust and envy are everywhere throughout the panel. Elsewhere we find - a greedy miser is forced to
excrete gold coins into a cesspool. The glutton is forced to vomit up his food. The slothful
man is visited in his bed by a demonic toad, and the vain woman is doomed to stare for eternity
at her own reflection, which we can make out in a demon's backside. She is being grabbed from behind
by another demon while a toad sits on her chest. She closes her eyes to avoid her reflection and the horror
around her. I think her resemblance to Eve is undeniable. In the previous panel, birds fed humans,
here they eat them. The owl, again makes his appearance. This time as the Prince of Hell, with
a cauldron for a crown, and jugs for shoes. It is sitting on a giant potty chair. Human bodies are
being consumed and excreted simultaneously, to go straight into the sewer where others are already
drowning in filth. In Bosch's day, the river running through the heart of Den Bosch was an open
sewer. Its stench was everywhere in the city. We can get an insight into Bosch's working
practice if we look at the infrared scan of this area. We can see that originally Bosch sketched
an enormous toad here, hanging over the Prince of Hell. Another - perhaps better - world is suggested
in the reflection in the Prince of Hell's crown. Behind the Prince of Hell, the crescent moon on
the head of a religious woman makes a reappearance. The severed hand holding a dice is another
repeated image. It references the word of God we saw in the first panel - only now it has
been corrupted and is balancing a dice, as man plays with God's word. The overturned table
is a likely reference to Christ and the moneylenders. One gambler is nailed to the table - by the right
hand he rolled the dice he lost his fortune on. On the corner of the table, a tally of souls is being
kept. This man is blindfolded and represents moral or spiritual blindness. There is a difference
between being blindfolded and being blind, as it suggests that the figure had the capability
of seeing the light but refused. The Medieval figure "Synagogue" was a common symbolic
representation of spiritually blind Jews. Gambling leads to lust and more sin and the naked woman
with her eyes lowered is holding a candlestick and beer pitcher, identifying her as a prostitute. In the Netherlands,
prostitutes use candles to entice passers-by. A medieval precursor to the red light district.
The dice on her head is the dice of a cheat as the opposite sides cannot add up to seven.
The man covering his eyes is bent over. A pose that connects the scene - in this case their
hunchbacks reference "omo incurvatis" in Se" a theological phrase describing a life lived inward
for oneself - rather than outward for God and others. Besides them, a hare carries his bleeding
victim on a pole as he sounds his horn. He has a pair of hounds, who have caught another
victim - maybe they were poachers? Hare coursing was illegal for the lower classes. "The hunted
becomes hunter" expresses the chaos of Hell. Where the normal relationships of
the world are turned upside down. Non-religious music was considered sinful,
associating it with other sins of the flesh and spirit. Musical instruments often carried
erotic connotations in works of art of the period. A cacophonous choir is forced to sing
by a demonic choir master whose tongue is like a scale of notes. The music is written on a
victim's buttocks who is crushed by a giant lute. Some characters cover their ears as best they can,
to try to avoid the horrendous noise. Others are crushed, locked or impaled by the instruments.
A man has been tied to the neck of a giant lute and is about to be set on by a snake-like monster.
A crucifixion is an unusual scene for Hell but here we have a figure crucified on the
strings of an enormous harp. To emphasise the crucifixion, a roasted toad is offered up to him in
a parody of the sponge of wine offering to Christ, when he was crucified. A demon beats a drum
while inside a man is trapped crying out in fear. Another man has a recorder jammed up his bottom,
while he is bearing the weight of a giant flute, echoing Christ carrying the cross.
It is as if Hell is mocking Christianity. On top of the "Hurdy-Gurdy" is a blind beggar. One
more turn of the handle, and the lady playing the triangle will lose her head. The Hurdy-Gurdy was
associated with beggars, who were often blind - here, a stand-in for spiritual blindness. He is holding
a begging bowl in his other hand. Bosch gives us the minute detail we associate with the Northern
Renaissance artists, and we see a metal badge on a ribbon hanging off the bowl - which is a license
to beg - granted by nobles like Henry III. Beside him another man balancing an egg, is hunched up holding
a walking cane - another "Homo Incurvertus in Se". The trumpeter wears the Ottoman flag and
heralds Satan, who fell from heaven as a star. The most famous creation in Hell is the "Tree-man",
a perfect Boschian mix of realism, metaphor and fantasy. We have seen this figure
before in an earlier drawing by Bosch, except in the original we have a
Turkish flag flying out of his backside. The face is almost certainly a self-portrait
of Bosch. His look is strangely self-conscious, and stylistically out of keeping with
the other depictions of human faces. He could be there as a warning against vanity,
His torso is a broken egg, which doubles as a tavern in his backside. His head is topped with
bagpipes - another instrument for the infernal orchestra. Bagpipes were a symbol of lust as they
resemble a scrotum and penis. Strange couples of mixed-species circle the bagpipe. A reference
to the circuit of lust on the previous panel. Taverns are places where men and women are lured
into sin, one man is sitting on an evil toad. Above them the Turkish flag from the drawing, is
now a bagpipe flag. Reminding us that the partaking of alcohol leads to sin. The tree-man is balanced
on two small boats with legs of decaying branches. The boats or "Skiffs" suggest he is ferrying
souls across the river. It is made clearer in his original drawing. This puts the painting more along
the lines of a "Last Judgment". Bosch's own painting of that subject follows a similar structure
to The Garden of Earthly Delights. The world burns in the background as souls are being sent
across the river to be judged in the foreground. And both paintings use similar iconography. On one
of his legs, a slipped bandage reveals a leper sore. i don't think anything in this painting is
without meaning and that we are seeing anti-Jewish sentiment here. A possible interpretation of this
is that he represents the Antichrist, as Bosch has previously painted this sore on the leg of a
figure in THIS painting. Identified as the Jewish antichrist. It was a common belief - but not in the
scriptures - that the Antichrist would be covered in leper sores, and that he will be of Jewish
origin. Below him Hell is literally frozen over. A man balancing on a giant ice skate will soon
collide with another in the icy water. A demon - bow and arrows at the ready - but strangely with no arms
to fire them, is giving chase to the human figures. The horse skull is like all skulls in paintings.
It is a "Memento Mori", to remind us that one day we will die. The message is clear - "life
is short, but eternity would last forever". Below the skull a demon gleefully rings the bell,
whose clappers have been replaced by a naked man. Out of the skull's eye a devil is reeling in a
key. The key has always puzzled me, as we are so used to seeing keys as representing the keys
to Heaven - a Medieval interpretation was that God gave Satan the keys to the bottomless pit,
and this is where that comes from. Theologically it is ambiguous, but aesthetically it makes
sense, as immediately above it new souls are ushered into Hell. The key is there to remind
us that the gates of Hell have been opened. The lamp here is extremely prominent. I think this
section is reserved for the soldiers that arrested Christ holding lanterns and carrying weapons.
They are being burned alive in the lantern as punishment. The leader, whose flag bears the Devil's
toad holds a chalice. While next to it we see a wafer, a clear reference to the body and blood of
Christ. He is being eaten alive on a large disc, which in turn resembles the one in the first
panel. The soldiers are being skewered by demons. The character in white with a stereotypical big
nose is behind them climbing a ladder, and could be Judas about to hang himself. The ominous looking
ears are a war machine, crushing people in its wake. Like the blind metaphors throughout Hell, the knife
cutting through the ears would reference deafness to the word of God. But the similarity to the male
sexual organ is also unmistakable. The knife holds a symbol that looks like a letter "M" or "B" which
has confused historians for centuries. The truth is pretty mundane: Den Bosch was known throughout
Europe for its manufacture of knives, and in the 1990s archaeologists found a knife dated to the
15th century which has the same shape and mark used here by Bosch. Even ordinary household
implements are turning on us. Cities in Europe were tinderboxes and fires were common. This is
the climax of the painting - a realistic portrayal of a city on fire - that may well have been based
on Bosch's childhood memories. The hostile army is seizing the city, led by a horned demon. We see
people trying to escape the fire using ladders or jumping into the dirty waters of the canal to
certain death. Crowds of people are being pushed down to the riverbank to be transported across the
icy river to be judged and punished. This is a Hell that the Medieval mind would have understood
on so many levels. Death was all around them. Finally a tiny detail. At the apex of the volcano
we can just make out two figures fighting. One, a demon in black and one, a human in
white - this is the fight that Bosch's contemporaries would have seen as a lifelong
battle. The fight between good and evil. Bosch's inclusion in Henry III's collection would
have boosted his reputation, and his infamy spread throughout Europe. We know the painting was
popular as so many copies of it were commissioned. Some in Bosch's lifetime and some even by his own workshop. Paintings were an expensive investment so it must have been extremely well known to have
been copied so much. There were also tapestries made of it after Bosch's death. Henry III died
in 1538 and the painting was inherited by his nephew William, who was a Protestant reformer and
therefore an enemy of the state. His property was confiscated by the Catholic Duke of Alba, who
brought The Garden of Earthly Delights to Spain. It was soon sold to King Philip II, a keen
collector of Bosch - known as El Bosco in Spain. Philip owned many of Bosch's paintings and it is
the reason why spain has such a large collection. Philip was a staunch Catholic, defender
of the faith, and a leading figure of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also used a
ruthless Spanish inquisition in order to keep his subjects in line - and root out heretical
thought. It is difficult as modern viewers to look at this painting and not see it as
surrealism or a product of the subconscious, not see it as a sexual utopia, a critique
of Religion or even a psychedelic romp. It is why so many bizarre theories have emerged.
But whatever its true meaning is - and will never know, just by virtue of being in the Royal collection
of the deeply conservative Philip II, it is clear that The Garden of Earthly Delights was a
reflection of the religious thinking of the day. Philip kept it in the Escorial, the monastery
that doubled as his royal residence, where it was known as "El modrono", or the
strawberry. It stayed at Escorial for over 300 years, until it was moved to the Prado
museum in 1939, along with other works by Bosch. This film is only one approach to the painting.
It is difficult to ascribe meaning to all the specific elements. However, I decided to take the approach
that viewers in Henry III's court might have: To treat it as an intellectual puzzle with a moralistic streak,.
A painting that is there to create a conversation. If you have theories or ideas I'd love
to hear about them in th e comments.
