Artist research

In my case, as I mentioned before, the art work my group and I chose was" the garden of delights" (El

Jardí de les Delícies) made by Hieronymus Bosch.

Now, we'll have a deeply look into Bosch's life.

He was member of a family of professional drawers that lived in the city of Bolduque, (the 

Netherlands). 

We don't have much information about his studies but he did have interests in the sciences field,

concretely in ornithology. An example of this interest can be seen in the garden of delights work,

where there are more than 70 species of birds.

Bosco's portrait

Talking about his style, his paintings are considered to follow the Flemish tradition. Some of the traits

that characterizes his work are the fantastic items he uses, such as the supernaturals being, like

demons or angels . Bosco shaped again and again a parallel world, of fantasies, monsters, superstition

and alchemy.

supernatural beings in "the garden of delights"

Some of his art works more appreciated are the following ones:

-Ecce Homo (Frankfurt)  1470-1475

-Adoració dels Reis 1474

-Crucifixió amb donant  1480-1485

-Crist portant la creu (Viena). 1480-1490

-El judici final (Bruges) 1486 

-Sant Cristòfor portant l'infant Jesús  1490-1500

Cruxifixió amb donant

                                                            Sant Joan l'Evangelista a Patmos

His techniques were painting thin layers of paint, making the background partially visible. As a

consequence, thsi technique allowed him to work faster, before drying the thin layers of colour and

also at a lower cost.

Furthermore, another of his interests were the landscapes. We can appreciate an evolution throughout

his works taking into account the different traits of his landscapes. For instance, when he started his

career,  he drew flat landscapes without perspectives, such the case of our work "El Jardí de les

Delícies".

Talking about his evolution, some experts mention that they don't have enough data of the period in

which he lived but it seemed that he showed special interest in the use of irony and deal with moral

issues.


There are some authors that believed that Bosco was the predecessor of Dalí. Mainly by the

surrealistic symbols of some of his art works. Also, it is said that he laughed at superstitions and

beliefs in witches and ghosts.

Fantasía moral

Another curiosity of him, As a member of the brotherhood of Our Lady, and under the influence of

the spirituality of the Brothers of Common Life (The imitation of Christ, Thomas of Kempis), Bosco

managed to explore in depth Catholic morality and, as a prophet, wanted give signs about human

contradictions and the fate of sinners.


It is mentioned that Bosco changed the meaning of the adjective "ugly" typical of the Middle Ages

through the work "The Garden of Earthly Delights". He presented as a new idea of ugliness the

concept of sordidness that was conceived in English Romanticism and that later became established

as an art form thanks to the avant-garde.

To end, in the summer of 1516, an epidemic was declared in ‘s-Hertogenbosch with symptoms that

speak to  us of a kind of cholera. It is possible that Bosco was a victim of it. It is not known what day

he died.


From my point of view, after seeing his art work I consider he had an advanced mentality to be from

that time. I also believe that he was an inspiring painter that changed the perception of the fear in the

art and the use of irony so he has been a relevant professional and human in the art world.



References:

https://lineassobrearte.com/2017/03/26/el-bosco-una-cuestion-de-fe/  

https://www.abc.es/cultura/cultural/abci-bosco-500-anos-muerte-analizado-mundo-cultura-actual-201605240157_noticia.html 

https://www.eldiario.es/cultura/arte/Bosco-exposicion-Prado_0_520048202.html  

https://www.culturagenial.com/es/el-jardin-de-las-delicias-de-el-bosco/ 

https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/artista/el-bosco/c9716e4a-4c24-44dd-ac65-44bc4661c8b5 

https://www.docsity.com/es/evolucion-d-la-pintura-del-bosco/2826116/

https://www.arteespana.com/elbosco.htm