Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch was a painter hailing from the state of Brabant in the netherlands. Bosch is credited as being the first surrealist due to his portrayal of creatures and landscapes utterly unknown to man. His art, full of fantastical imagery and nightmarish hellscapes, was something wholly new at the time and although seen as bizarre at the time were still reasonably popular.
Bosch’s most famous work is a triptych called “The Garden of Earthly Delights” and depicted on the three panels are the garden of Eden, an otherworldly garden, and the last judgement. This piece has many interpretations as the symbolism is so heavy but the two majorly believed ones are that it is a warning as to the dangers of sinning or that it is a piece depicting a paradise long since gone. The depiction hell he painted is done with deep blacks, browns and fleshy tones to give an unsettling feeling to the image. The hellscape is littered with torture, demons, mutilation and surreal images the likes of which people had never even dreamt of.
Bosch’s works were not wildly popular at the time but were an inspiration to many painters going forward such as Bruegel the Elder, Arcimboldo and Dali.
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