OPPOSITE: JHERONIMUS BOSCH ART CENTER, ‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, THE NETHERLANDS. © 2016 JULIE O’CONNOR PHOTO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I : JHERONIMUS BOSCH ART CENTER, ‘S-HERT E B S , T E NE E L . © 2016 JULIE O’C R P T . ALL RI RE E .
I first saw The Garden of Earthly Delights in an art history book when I was 14 years old and I have been fascinated by this painting and its painter, Hieronymus Bosch, ever since. In 1971, I spent a seminal week of my life at the Prado Museum in Madrid staring for hours every day at this 500-year-old wonder of the art world, trying to grasp its meaning, context, and surreal visual vocabulary. I can still close my eyes and remember my first in-person impressions of The Garden of Earthly Delights and its dazzling imagery, fantastical characters, and spectacular colors: On the left panel of this massive triptych (about 7 feet by 13 feet), Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden, with a Jesus/God-like figure appearing to marry them. In the upper part of the left panel we see a sweet giraffe (the Garden is among the earliest paintings to show a giraffe) and a gentle elephant. Looming over the panel are fairytale towers made of pink and blue materials that resemble sandcastles at the beach. In the lower area there is a pool of reptilian and amphibian figures in the midst of their evolution. In the vast center panel, giant strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries… bubbles blown up to translucent spheres big enough to encase two people, a pool inhabited by naked bathing women surrounded by naked men riding all manner of creatures from stags to unicorns, camels, lions, and cats... humongous woodpeckers and owls, a human form lying in a massive clam shell, a red teepee, mermaids, fish, and crustaceans of all kinds… men with huge wings flying through the sky… humans, black and white, talking in groups, standing on their heads, engaged in mysterious and mostly erotic activities. And then, in the final panel, horror movie scenes from a frightening Hellscape…. A harp with its strings used as an instrument of torture… a man kissing a pig dressed up in a nun’s habit… a THE FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF HIERONYMUS BOSCH A PERSONAL JOURNEY B Y D A N B U R S T E I N / P H O T O S B Y J U L I E O ’ C O N N O R
72 WESTONMAGAZINEGROUP.COM
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs