Wikipedia hans belting who sees the painting as utopian rather than apocalyptic believes that this figure is a self portrait of bosch.
The garden of earthly delights painting meaning.
A grand three part altarpiece this triptych was the artist s most ambitious and unconventional project and in it he used vivid imagery to ensure a painting with a complexity of meaning.
Now housed in madrid s prado museum it s hard to believe this bizarre painting filled with willy wonka machines and hybrid creatures caught in strange acts was painted over 500 years ago.
Hieronymus bosch s the garden of earthly delights stands as one of the greatest masterpieces of the northern renaissance or indeed any age.
The garden of earthly delights is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted by the early netherlandish master hieronymus bosch between 1490 and 1510 when bosch was between 40 and 60 years old.
The story of garden of earthly delights begins of course with its enigmatic creator.
Depicting a fantastically surreal world that ranges from orgiastic pleasure to terrifying horror hieronymus bosch s the garden of earthly delights has fascinated the public for centuries.
While bosch s biographical details have been difficult to pin down historians know that he was born as jeroen van aken around 1450 to a family of artists rooted in the once bustling city of hertogenbosch currently in the netherlands.
I first saw the painting at the age of nine in the prado museum in madrid where to the consternation of my parents i spent several hours inspecting it.
The garden of earthly delights is a folding tryptich the left and right panels fold inwards and when closed is shows a meditative image of the world during its creation painted in the gray green grisaille common to netherlandish triptychs of the time.
As so little is known of bosch s life or intentions interpretations of his intent have ranged.
The garden of earthly delights credit.
It has been housed in the museo del prado in madrid since the year 1939.