Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Hieronymus Bosch


I never really had a favorite artist until I had to study Hieronymus Bosch in Art History last semester. Unlike everything that I had seen, his piece wasn't just a random Madonna or a fresco about the life of Jesus. Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter born around 1450 whose father was a painter. As his father was, he became a part of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, an organization founded to promote the reverence of the Virgin Mary. In his hometown of Hertogenbosch, he gained the attention of the Brotherhood and began to receive many commissions from abroad. Afterwards he married Aleyt Goyaerts van der Meerven. He died in 1516, with his funeral being held on August 9th. There aren't many records of his life in detail.  

Art historians believe that he liked to comment on the folly of man in his works. His triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights, drew me in because it wasn't another painting about the mother of Heaven and her Anointed Child. It tells a story from left to right of people who were good citizens, then started acting a fool and forgetting God, and finally suffering and making strange creatures in Hell. I love the fact that this would have never happened in his world. The idea for this painting is so out there and different that it appeals to me. I'm the type of person who doesn't like to necessarily do art that realistic, from the style to the very idea itself. Like him, I like to go way outside of the box to another planet even.



Fraenger, Wilhelm, and Helen Sebba. Hieronymus Bosch. New York: Putnam, 1983. Print.
"Hieronymous Bosch Biography." Hieronymous Bosch. 2002. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.hieronymus-bosch.org/biography.html>.

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