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An introduction to Hieronymus Bosch |
Hieronymus Bosch was an imaginative painter who lived in the Netherlands in the 15th Century. There is not an
official date of his birth, but it believed that he lived circa 1450 - 1516. The picture at right is "supposedly" a portrait of
Bosch later in life ... it is not certain whether it was a self portrait or a portrait made by one of his contemporaries.
His true name was Jerome van Aken, and he came from a family of painters, with his grandfather, father, several uncles and a brother
all being professional artists. Perhaps wanting to stand out from the crowd, he changed his name to Hieronymus (which is a Latinized
version of Jerome) Bosch, which was a shortened version of his hometown s'Hertogenbosch. |
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The detail at left shows an example of the character-dense paintings that Bosch
made. Many paintings depict struggles between people, as well as hideous and scary looking monsters straight
from Bosch's vivid imagination. It has been noted that he lived during violent times in the Late Middle Ages,
but he seemed to internalize and depict this violence much more intensely than some of his contemporaries, such
as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, and Raphael. |
| In a somewhat lighthearted introduction to the hybrid creatures often found in Bosch's paintings,
Artsology introduces the Bosch Underworld Game, where you begin in the
imaginary underground inhabited by Bosch creatures, who in this case are friendly and help you try to escape
back to the surface world. Check it out! |
If you would like to learn more about Hieronymus Bosch,
please consider the books below:
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