Human Sin in Bosch's Garden of Delights
Hieronymus Bosch, a Nertherlandish painter is known for his fantastic visual interpretations of hell, death sin and folly. Little is known about Bosch except that he spent his life in the provincial town of s'Hertogenbosch and that he died an old man in 1516. His work, full of weird and seemingly irrational imagery has proved so difficult to interpret that much of it despite the remarkable insights contributed by recent research, remains unsolved. This study project will explore some of his more obvious symbolisms and relations to sin as portrayed in the bible.
The Piece in question is called The Garden of Earthly Delights", one of his most famous works, made in c.1500. It is comprised of three panels, each depicting a different scene. Of the three panels only the left has a clearly recognizable subject: The Garden Of Eden, wherein the Lord introduces to Adam, the newly created Eve. And it is on this panel where we begin.
This panel features the Garden of Eden, vested in its natural beauty, the tree of knowledge and of course the lord introducing Adam to Eve. And this in turn begins the sin that supposedly damned all of humanity: Original Sin. (Many religions have conflicting issues and views on the concept of original sin, but this will be explored with reference to the Catholic Church, and the bible.)
Adam's sin, as recounted in the Book of Genesis is sometimes called in Hebrew (translated: the first sin of man, or Adam). The account in Genesis (2-3), implies that Adam and Eve initially in communion with God. God warned Adam not to eat the fruit of "the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" (Genesis 2:15-17). The serpent persuaded Eve, who in turn persuaded Adam, to disobey this...
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...ve their sinful lives. It is the ground for strange and wicked displays of man, and even stranger displays of torture by demons, or ones own vices. In essence, this is the main theme of the painting; the dualistic battle between mans virtue and vice.
"Sin creates [an inclination] to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root."
Para. 1865, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994
Bibliography:
History of Religious Art Various Authors
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights
Catechism of Catholic Church
Microsoft Encarta.
http://www.csuchico.edu/art/contrapposto/contrapposto98/pages/%20essays/rosa.html
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Sin and folly are two concepts that play a major role in the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch. Two of his most famous works The Garden of Earthly Delights and The Haywain Triptych both deal with sin and The Last Judgment is no exception. The significance of his use of sin and folly can be fully appreciated by examining and analyzing The Last Judgment. A very common theme in medieval and renaissance religious artwork, The Last Judgment “marks the final act of the long, turbulent history of mankind which began with the Fall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Eden.” 1 It is the supposed day when the dead shall rise from their graves and Christ shall come a second time to judge all men, rewarding each according to his merits. 1 As Christ himself foretold in the book of Matthew, “the elect will enjoy the eternal bliss prepared for them from the foundation of the world” , while the damned will be condemned to the “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” 2. Bosch depicted this identifiable scene of Christian lore in a triptych using his unique style. In The Last Judgement, Bosch combined one of the most identifiable scenes of Christianity with a painting style that was unique during the Renaissance.
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describes Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. By giving George
The works of Hieronymus Bosch seem to have captivated the public ever since he began his work in the late 15th century. He was the first artist to leave a significant collection of original drawings, which indicates that even his concept sketches were sought after and protected even in his own time. Across the centuries, the central focus of every study, whether or not they admit it or are even aware of it, is the attempt to find a hidden key that can unlock the secrets of his work. But Bosch is as poetic as he is secretive, so the content and the hidden meanings cannot be so easily and neatly sorted out. Out of all of Bosch’s known works, the most mysterious and fascinating is the triptych now known as The Garden of Earthly Delights. The painting is interesting not only because its subject is so bizarre, but also because it is so familiar: Biblical themes expressed in a completely original way without much of the familiar iconography of his time. (Belting: p.7)
One might ask, What exactly are sins and where did they come from? According to Oxford Dictionary, a sin is an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. Sin is what started the fall of humanity that is still manifested in today’s time. Adam was the first of God’s human creation. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:16–17). Sin entered the world when Adam disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. “God gave to man the power of contrary choice. Man of his own will, by no external compulsion or determination, used that power in the commission of sin… ” (Reddit 10). The effects of Adam’s sin are profound and and they affect everyone. A few things that stand out in Reddit’s explanation of it is that “sin is lawless, universal and results in satanic bond”. Sin is lawless because its is breaking God’s divine law. “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” (1John 3:4). Sin is universal because, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” and the evil one who is Satan. An objection could be that
... the way that the artwork is resembled in the religious background of the gospel but reconstructed in to a celebrating impression. Throughout the fresco painting it depicts the myth of the Christ’s three fold temptations relating back to the article that “distinction between fresco and panel painting is sharp, and that painters are seen as competitors amongst themselves discriminating also, between the difference in genuine attempts in being better then the other.” Baxandall, “Conditions of Trade,” 26. in relation, the painting concerns the painter’s conscious response to picture trade, and the non-isolation in pictorial interests.
In the bible, Adam and Eve are seen as more equal beings, though Eve is tempted, she is not necessarily seen as any worse than Adam, and Adam seems to have no real recognition that what Eve is doing is wrong. In Paradise Lost Eve is the gullible, rash, and selfish one, whereas Adam is intelligent, discerning, and selfless. Eve can almost be fully faulted as the culprit in this endeavor, and Adam is just along for the ride due to his undying love for her. The serpent recognizes Eve as the weak one by saying “behold alone/ The woman, opportune to all attempts” (Milton, 480-481). Furthermore, it is Adam who recognizes the depravity and depths of what Eve has done and he recognizes it immediately “soon as he heard/ The fatal trespass done by Eve, amazed, / Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill/ Ran through his veins” (Milton, 889-891). He chooses to eat the fruit due to his love for her and his inability to fathom being apart from her, not because of ignorance. The result of them eating the fruit does not immediately open their eyes to the knowledge of good and evil, instead they have sex and revel in their actions. It is not until later on that they are hit with what has really been done and the implications it will have for them. The conversation held between Adam and Eve ends on a sour note for Eve as Adam says “Him who to worth in women
Magesa suggests not to use the abstract Christian concept of sin but to speak of ‘wrong-doing’ or ‘destruction of life’. Evil is always attached ...
To me the painting is a way of showing you what everyone else is seeing. That the painter had the men looking right at each other so they can see themselves running away. In turn I got to see myself doing the same thing and was able to change because of it. When other people look at the painting they probably see something else. That is why I choose to do the painting, it gives you the choice too interpret it any way you see fit. Or it can just be a beautiful painting to look at, but the painting was so much more to me. It painted a thousand words for me.