Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights
ca 1495-1505Paintings sorted by Historical period | Painter | Subject matter | Pigments used
Overview
The ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ triptych consists of four paintings: the left panel named ‘Garden of Eden or sometimes also ‘Joining of Adam and Eve’ shows God presenting Eve to Adam. The center panel depicts a wide garden-like landscape that gave the painting its name. Here, the multitude of figures engages in lustful, sinful, and bizarre activities. The right panel depicts Hell, while the back sides of both side panels show the World before the creation of animals.
The pigment analysis was not investigated by The Bosch Research and Conservation Project. The painting is included in the two books referenced below under ‘Publications’. An extensive interactive online feature at the website of the project complements the book and shows all the images from the book in high resolution.
Medium: Oil
Support: Oak
Size: Height including frame: 205.6 cm
width including frame: 386 cm
Art period: Renaissance
Museo del Prado Madrid
Inventory number: P02823
Painting at the website of the BOSCH PROJECT
Parts of the Triptych
Left Panel: ‘Garden of Eden (Joining of Adam and Eve)’
Central Panel
Right Panel: ‘Hell’
Exterior of the Side Panels: ‘The Creation of the World’
Resources
See the collection of online and offline resources such as books, articles, videos, and websites on Hieronymus Bosch in the section ‘Resources on Painters‘
PowerPoint Presentations
Painter in Context: Hieronymus Bosch
A richly illustrated presentation on the painting technique and pigments employed by Hieronymus Bosch specially crafted for Art Education. (Number of Slides = 20)
- Each presentation starts with the basic resources on the painter such as his biography, main catalogs of his paintings, and a bibliography.
- Next, you find slides describing the painting technique of the artist and the pigments he usually employed in his work.
- The majority of the slides show examples of paintings containing the specific pigments.
Slides showing the basic resources on the life and works of the Northern Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch.
The painting technique and all pigments employed by Bosch are shown in the next slides.
The majority of the slides show important examples of paintings where Bosch employed specific pigments. The slides are organized according to the color of the pigments.
Videos
Video: 'In Conversation with the Garden of Earthly Delights' by Museo del Prado
On the occasion of “Bosch The 5th Centenary Exhibition”, Reindert Falkenburg comments on his essay “In Conversation with the Garden of Earthly Delights”. Museo del Prado.
Video: 'Technical study of The Garden of Earthly Delights' by Museo del Prado
Pilar Silva, Head of the Department of Spanish Painting (1100-1500) and Flemish Painting and Northern Schools (1400-1600), comments the technical study of The Garden of Earthly Delights.
Video: 'Bosch Garden of Earthly Delights Explained, Parts 1 – 4' by Adam McLean,
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Publications and Websites
Publications
(1) M. Bergman: ‘The Garden of Love: A Neoplatonic Interpretation of Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych’, Gaz. B.-A., vol. 15 (May–June 1990), nos 1456–7, pp. 191–212.
(2) Sally Hickson, Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Khan Academy.
(3) Matthijs Ilsink, Jos Koldeweij, Hieronymus Bosch: Painter and Draughtsman – Catalogue raisonné, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2016. pp 356-379.
This book is also available online in pdf format in two parts: part I and part II.
(4) Luuk Hoogstede, Ron Spronk, Matthijs Ilsink, Robert G. Erdmann, Jos Koldeweij, Rik Klein Gotink, Hieronymus Bosch, Painter and Draughtsman: Technical Studies, Yale University Press, 2016, pp. 314 – 315.
(5) Carmen Garrido and Roger Van Schoute, Bosch At The Museo Del Prado – technical Study, Aldeasa Publishers 2001.
(6) Reindert Falkenburg, Hieronymus Bosch, The Land of Unlikeness: Garden of Earthly Delights, Uitgeverij WBOOKS, 2011.
Websites
Website of the Bosch Project
Website of the Bosch Research and Conservation Project
Documentary of The Garden of Early Delights. An interactive web viewer allows zooming into the painting in close detail and offers explanations for all the enigmatic features of this masterpiece. This feature is part of a transmedia triptych consisting of the traditional documentary film ‘Hieronymus Bosch, Touched by the Devil‘ (short trailer) and a “virtual reality documentary” called ‘Hieronymus Bosch, the Eyes of the Owl‘.
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, Storymap, Northwestern University Knightlab. Online interactive feature giving the meaning of various details in this painting.
