Northern Renaissance: Bosch's Garden
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, oil on oak panels, 1505 Hieronymus Bosch is known for many things, the many works he created in the late 1400s and early 1500s, having a name that sounds like a spell from Harry Potter , and creating possibly the most famous triptych to come out of the Northern Renaissance, The Garden of Earthly Delights . However, while we know of his many works, knowledge about the man behind the brush is surprisingly scarce. Even so, much of Bosch's character and beliefs come through when examining The Garden of Earthly Delights. The work is a triptych, oil paintings created on three hinged wooden panels, the two outer panels folding in on the inner panel. What is surprisingly rarely discussed is the fourth panel of the triptych, only viewable when the outer panels are closed. Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights (closed) Starting with the triptych closed is how I believe that Bosch intended the work to be viewed, as it