Hieronymus Bosch, Visions of the Hereafter

ca 1505-1515

Paintings sorted by     Historical period   |   Painter   |  Subject matter   |  Pigments used

Hieronymus-Bosch-Visions-of-the-Hereafter

Overview

‘Visions of the Hereafter’ polyptych consists of two panels depicting scenes from Hell and two panels showing scenes from Paradise. The original arrangement and purpose of the panels are not known.

The polyptych was thoroughly investigated by The Bosch Research and Conservation Project. The results of this investigation were published in a magnificent book referenced in the section “Recommended Books” below. 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.

The pigment analysis revealed a limited palette consisting of the usual pigments employed in the Renaissance period, such as lead-tin yellow, vermilion, malachitegreen earth, and bone black.

Medium: Oil
Support: Oak
Fall of the Damned: 88.8 x 39.6 cm
Hell: 88.8 x 39.6 cm
Earthly Paradise: 88.5 x 39.8 cm
Ascent into Heaven: 88.8 x 39.9 cm

Parts of the Polyptych

The original arrangement and function of the four panels are not known.

‘Fall of the Damned’

 

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-1

 

‘Hell’

 

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-2

 

 

‘Earthly Paradise’

 

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-3

 

 

‘Ascent into Heaven’

 

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-4

Biblical Story

Matthew 25:31-46

 

The Final Judgment

 

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[1] you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 25:40 Or brothers and sisters

Pigments

Pigment Analysis

This pigment analysis is based on the work of the scientists at The Bosch Research and Conservation Project (1). The scientists employed x-ray radiography (XRR), infrared photography (IRP) and infrared reflectography (IRR) to gain insights into the inner layers of the painting and to identify the pigments.

 

Bosch-Visions-of-the-Hereafter-pigments

 

bone black underlayer was applied to all four panels.

 

Hair-like features of the demon: lead-tin yellow.
2 Demon at the left side: green glaze followed by lead-tin yellow with the teeth painted in lead white.

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-1-pigments-1-2

 

Fire: vermilion, bright orange paint, lead-tin yellow, lead white, and a red or brownish purple lake.

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-pigments-3

 

Green landscape: a mixture of lead-tin yellow, malachitegreen earth, and lead white.

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-pigments-4

Angel’s hair: base layer consists of brown pigment partly overpainted with lighter brown, yellow ochre (?), lead-tin yellow and lead white.
Angel’s red gown: vermilion with a red glaze for shadow areas, black for folds, and lead white for highlights.

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-pigments-5-6

 

7 Centre of the tunnel: lead white.

bosch-visions-of-the-hereafter-pigments-7

 

 

References

(1) 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. 252 – 263.

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

Resources-painters-Painters-in-context-Bosch-title

 

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.

 

Painter-in-context-hieronymus-Bosch-painting_technique

Slides showing the basic resources on the life and works of the Northern Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch. 

 

Resources-Painters-Hieronymus-Bosch-Painter-in-context

The painting technique and all pigments employed by Bosch are shown in the next slides.

Painter-in-context-hieronymus-Bosch-paintings 

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.

Publications and Websites

Publications

(1)  Matthijs Ilsink, Jos Koldeweij, Hieronymus Bosch: Painter and Draughtsman – Catalogue raisonné, Yale University Press, New Haven and London 2016, pp 308-315.
This book is also available online in pdf format in two parts: part I and part II.

(2) 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. 252 – 263.

(3) Hieronymus Bosch, Visions of the Hereafter, Website of The Bosch Research and Conservation Project. The painting can be viewed in an interactive viewer in high resolution showing the image not only in visible light but also as an infrared reflectogram and x-radiograph.

Websites