"The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch

Sorry guys!  I've been really busy with trying to get my Letter of Intent ready for UF.  Its finally finished, posted, and sent. *Crossing fingers and Saying prayers*  Anyway, recently Hieronymus Bosch has been on my mind.  An artist with truly symbolic religious art.  I love art that has a lot going on and Bosch definitely  falls under that category.   One of my favorite paintings by him is a triptych (a panel painting divided into 3 sections) titled The Garden of Earthly Delights. 

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. 1503-1504. Oil on wood.

This is a painting that has to be broken down and studied in small sections to get the most out of the work.  Every inch shows another symbolic image.  It is believed that Bosch painted himself into the work as the "tree man" in Hell.

When the triptych is closed Bosch painted an image of Earth showing Creation.  Opened and the panel shows three religious beliefs. Overall,  the left panel shows God's creation of man with Adam and Eve.  The middle shows man creating sin in different ways (mostly in sexual desire) and the right panel shows man damned in Hell.

With art historians, over time there have been two beliefs that have been highly debated on what the middle panel represents.  Whether or not it's a moral warning or a paradise lost. I believe it's a moral warning.  The triptych obviously shows God's creation of Earth and man from beginning to end.  Where ever this is displayed people are going to read it as directions.  "Oh those people are sinning and now they're in hell.  I don't want to be in hell, I'll take this as a warning."

The painting was completed in the early 1500's, a time when the Protestant Reformation was happening. Martin Luther will nail his 95 theses to the church doors within the next ten years. Religion is strong and debatable at this time.  People are starting to wonder whether or not the right way is with Catholicism? Whether or not there is a better understanding somewhere else. People are looking deeper into their faiths, asking questions, and making choices.  In that time, this middle panel would easily be taken as a "moral warning."  Here is a Protestant artist (so believed) with the skill to relay a vivid message.  Bosch succeeded. 

Photos and Information gathered from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A944453, http://www.historycentral.com/WH1400-1900/Europe/Europe/LutherNailstoChurch.html, http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/religion-elizabethan-england.htm, http://www.computus.org/journal/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/the-garden-of-earthly-delights.jpg, http://pfreundlich.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/mr763the-garden-of-earthly-delights-hell-right-wing-of-triptych-c-1500-posters.jpg, http://canary-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/hieronymus_bosch_-_the_garden_of_earthly_delights_-_the_exterior_shutters.jpg