Garden of Earthly Delights

Garden of Earthly Delights
Originally uploaded by blurfroggie.

I have always been fascinated with the works of Hieronymous Bosch, especially after I read Michael Connelly's works. There is something that is so intriguing and mysterious about his works. The main theme of this works revolve around sins and the penalty of sins but the way he protrayed it is so beautiful.

My favourite is The Garden of Earthly Delights. In it, there are writhing human bodies enjoying the estascy of copulating. Men and women are freely engaging in acts of orgasmic mating. Everything seem just so carefree and delightful. Yet there is the constant presence of sins and evil, as protrayed by the owls and the weird looking creatures in the pictures.

"Bosch's most famous and unconventional picture is The Garden of Earthly Delights (c.1500; Prado, Madrid) which, like most of his other ambitious works, is a large, 3-part altarpiece, called a triptych. This painting was probably made for the private enjoyment of a noble family. It is named for the luscious garden in the central panel, which is filled with cavorting nudes and giant birds and fruit. The triptych depicts the history of the world and the progression of sin. Beginning on the outside shutters with the creation of the world, the story progresses from Adam and Eve and original sin on the left panel to the torments of hell, a dark, icy, yet fiery nightmarish vision, on the right. The Garden of Delights in the center illustrates a world deeply engaged in sinful pleasures."