Hieronymus Bosch

Bosch was a prolific painter of depictions of sin and human moral failings. His work often contains complex, imaginative, and dense use of symbolic figures and iconography, some of which was obscure even in his own time.

He is said to have been an inspiration to the surrealism movement in the 20th century.

Commonly called Bosch from his birthplace 's-Hertogenbosch, his name was actually Hieronymus van Aeken.

He was probably a pupil of Albert Ouwater[?], and may be called the Breughel of the 15th century, for he devoted himself to the invention of bizarre types, diableries, and scenes of the kind generally associated with Breughel, whose art is to a great extent based on Bosch's. He was a satirist much in advance of his time, and one of the most original and ingenious artists of the 15th century.

He exercised great influence on Lucas Cranach, who frequently copied his paintings. His works were much admired in Spain, especially by Philip II of Spain, at whose court Bosch painted for some time.

One of his chief works is the Last Judgment at the Berlin gallery, which also owns a little St Jerome in the Desert. The Fall of the Rebellious Angels and the St Anthony triptych are in the Brussels museum, and two important triptychs are at the Munich gallery. The Lippmann collection in Berlin contains an important Adoration of the Magi, the Antwerp museum a Passion, and a practically unknown painting from his brush is at the Naples museum.

A large number of his paintings is now is the Prado Museum in Madrid.

(Note on pronunciation: the 'ch' at the end of Bosch is mute. That is the name sounds like Boss not Bosh.)

Portions from EB 1911