Bosch: The Complete Paintings

by Walter Bosing

The pictorial world of Hieronymus Bosch If Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) remains an enigma today, it is little wonder. Even his contemporaries found the Netherlandish painter’s work difficult to decipher—and it still presents riddles to contemporary art historians.

Part of the problem in decoding his shocking and richly allegorical paintings is that virtually nothing is known of the artist himself, apart from his birthplace. There is no record of his life or training, no personal letters, diaries or notebooks, and no contemporary insights into his personality or thoughts on the meaning of his art. Even his date of birth can only be guessed at, and that based on a drawing assumed to be a self-portrait, made shortly before his death in 1516, which supposedly shows the artist in his late sixties. Bosch remains as mysterious as the worlds he painted.

Although rooted in the Old Netherlandish tradition, Bosch developed a highly subjective, richly suggestive formal language. With a mixture of religious humility and satanic wit, he illustrated both the joys of heaven and the cruelly imaginative tortures of hell. In his pictorial world teeming with surrealistic nightmares, the medieval imagination catches fire in a moment of final brilliance before succumbing to humanism and modern rationalism. Though the man himself remains a mystery, this book pulls together the elusive threads of Bosch’s entire oeuvre into a cohesive and comprehensive analysis of his visionary work and methods. About the
Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, History, Biography, Collections, Art Design

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Roy Lotz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I visited the Prado I was stunned. At the time, I typically wasn't moved by visual art, but something clicked that day and I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s very hard to choose among the treasures of the Prado, but of all the many masterful paintings in the museum my favorite is El Bosco’s Garden of Earthly Delights.

For me, this painting is Dante’s Divine Comedy made manifest. Bosch is the only painter I know who could equal that great poet’s vision and imagination. The result is a landscape rich in symbolism and in visual delight. But Bosch’s works are so enigmatic that you can’t shake the suspicion (no doubt true) that you’re missing a heck of a lot. Seeking a remedy, I bought this little book in the gift shop on the way out, in the hopes of learning more about this mysterious man’s art.

Well, it turns out Bosch is mysterious to art historians as well as casual viewers. Not much is known about his life; and his symbolic language was sometimes so idiosyncratic that it is unclear what he meant. For a while it was even questioned whether he was an orthodox Catholic or some kind of heretic, but now it’s believed that he was conventional in his religious views. Still, for me it is hard to accept that the central panel in The Garden of Earthly Delights is meant to portray human sexuality as sinful, since it’s such a joyful and energetic painting. But what do I know?

The book itself is an attractive little volume. There are glossy color photographs of all of Bosch’s works (there aren’t many that can be confidently ascribed to his hand), as well as concise information and analysis provided by Walter Bosing. I believe the original language was German, though I read it in Spanish for practice. My only disappointment with the book is its size. With Bosch’s work, you really need it as big as you can get it, because there are so many delicious little details. But of course if this book were bigger it would have to be more expensive, and that would spoil the point of this kind of cheap, portable book.

At this very moment there is an exhibition happening in Bosch’s hometown, in which nearly all of his works are collected. I am eagerly awaiting the exhibition to move to the Prado, which I think will happen in May. Until then, I will content myself with this superbly done virtual tour of Bosch’s masterpiece, which I invite you to enjoy as well.

[Mariana Orantes · Rating 5 out of 5]

El libro es una buena forma de acercarse a este genio. Por una parte, el autor retoma a otros autores que han hablado sobre el Bosco y los compara para ofrecer una visión amplia de la crítica. Después, ofrece interpretaciones de los mismos sobre algunas cosas, como los frutos y los peces del Jardín de las delicias para que el lector se mantenga al nivel simbólico que se ha estudiado sin caer en interpretaciones arbitrarias. Hace conexiones muy acertadas como la de los triunfos con El carro del heno y explica cosas sutiles que a veces se nos escapan de los cuadros de los santos. Pero también (y esto es muy interesante) admite que hay cosas que simplemente no se pueden explicar y que son la médula de los cuadros del Bosco. Finalmente él retrató los miedos de su época con un contacto casi intuitivo del inconciente y lo grotesco. Lo erótico sensual y lo tanático. Eso es lo que hace que, a tantos siglos, sus pinturas sean una obsesión. Mirarlas es ver todo un cuadro en movimiento que empieza en algo y va hacia algo. Por eso uno a veces mira una parte de un cuadro del Bosco, luego otra y otra, para regresar a la primera. Casi es imposible visualizar todo el cuadro si no es con ese movimiento que tienen las figuras. Los cuadros del Bosco se mueven. Son como ver un sueño, un sueño terrible.

[tiago. · Rating 4 out of 5]

O que faz Bosch tão especial é talvez precisamente que não se saiba praticamente nada da sua vida; e isso, quando unido com o seu estonteante estilo de pintura, quasi-surrealista, faz com que a sua obra adquira uma aura misteriosa, que se empresta a interpretações tão variadas quanto as pessoas que a apreciam. Walter Bosing, neste pequeno volume, opta por seguir a via histórica, buscando em velhos documentos e no trabalho de historiadores vários aquela que poderia ser a interpretação original do pintor - nem sempre a mais interessante, é verdade, mas que podemos esperar de um historiador de arte senão esse escavar infinito na poeira da história? - e acaba por retratá-lo como um homem atormentado pela culpa cristã, torturado pela consciência da natureza pecadora do homem e pelo temor dos suplícios que esperam os mais ímpios.

E Bosing fá-lo impecavelmente. Como seria de esperar da Taschen, é um livro completíssimo para o tamanho diminuto, que analisa toda a obra de pintura de Hieronymus Bosch. Para quem a desconhece por inteiro, fica, decerto, bem informado. Estando este pequeno volume lido, fica somente o pensamento-queixa de que mais interessante ainda que a análise histórica proposto pelo mesmo seria uma análise de todas as variadíssimas e criativíssimas interpretações que a obra de Bosch teve. Mas, enfim, não foi isso que se comprou, não é verdade? É, de todas as formas, um livro interessantíssimo.

[Reza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came upon a photo of the Garden of Earthly Delights randomly on the internet and instantly got drawn to its weird imagery and symbolism. I've never been into art that much but thought I should learn more about Bosch. The first thing that surprised me about him was the century he lived in. I can't imagine how someone from the 15th century could paint a landscape that I would associate more with 20th century paintings. This book does a very good job of providing the historical, cultural, and religious background of Bosch's time. Furthermore, it analyzes each of Botch's paintings to an extraordinary degree by explaining the symbolism of each significant object in the paintings. I also liked how it categorized the paintings based on themes like judgment day or saints instead of taking the easier way and organizing them by time period. Each theme in a way focused on a religious concept that was important to the people living in the middle ages.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets 5 stars for the quality of the reproductions. There are many works here I had never seen, and most of Bosch's work is accounted for. However, the text is a bit old-fashioned and academic. There is little about Bosch himself (possibly becuase there is not much information out there). There is a very nice putting of Bosch into historical context, especially of late Medievel Dutch Catholic art. The chapters are organized by Bosch's central themes, which allows a fine overview and comparison between early and late paintings and discussion of works attributed to but not by Bosch himself.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Taschen books try to give biographies of the artist with a touch of artistic analysis of their work. Bosch presents a challenge to this model because we know relatively little about his life. There is a fairly complete biography at the back based on all the official records we have. But Bosch lived so long ago and was so influential within his sphere that there is even some disagreement about his precise artistic canon. Is a given painting one of Bosch's or that of one of his students? Even the chronology of Bosch's work is in doubt.

With so little known about Bosch's life, it is not surprising that so many conspiracy theories tying to various secret societies that almost certainly no longer existed in Bosch's day have been invented. Bosch's art style is so steeped in symbolism and metaphor that there is a desire to read way more into them than is there. Bosing, to his credit, does not indulge these conspiracy theories but does find them worthy of mentioning. If only to discredit them.

The meaning behind Bosch's work is precisely what it appears to be: Religious symbolism. Bosch's visceral depictions of hell often harken back to the seven deadly sins or other well known depictions of hell. Bosch's most famous paintings are a potpourri of scenes. Almost "Where's Waldo" style of density with little vignettes playing out over the entire surface. I can see why some would want to try to pull out an image or two and try to attach special meaning to them but for my part I just see religious symbolism. Bosch was painting the horrors of hell to scare the faithful into staying in line. But they are remarkable pictures. Your eyes wander over their entire landscape coming to focus on a figure or two to unravel the mystery of their totality. His paintings of the demons of hell manage to be starkly realistic and otherworldly-fantastical at the same time. Sketching these paintings and working out what scenes should go where must have been an exhausting process.

Bosch was incredible at not wasting a single inch of his canvas. Even in his more direct depictions, the landscapes behind them flow away showing intermittent scenes of violence in the distance or fantastic cities looming over hills. The longer you look, the more points of interest you'll find in the work.

Only downside with the book is that it seems relatively small but I imagine any printing would seem small compared to all there is to find in the Garden of Earthly Delights and it is Taschen's budget label book series. It's not their fault I'm cheap.

[Aabha Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is very good and this is a good little introduction to the genius of Hieronymus Bosch. He concocted the most wondrous devils and creatures, pots with legs and trees wearing ships as boots and so on. He gives life to my horror loving soul.
However there are some grave errors, some that I see oft repeated in art books. The biggest of these are that the two page spreads don’t lay flat so the centers of the painting(sometimes the most important part) is lost in the cleavage of the book. Second, is that the painting being talked about is several pages ahead while the page on the opposite side is used for some completely unrelated work. What lazy formatting. This leads to a lot of turning back and forth which is not the most enjoyable. Third is that with certain artists, the devil is in the details(see what I did there) and close ups of the painting, insets, whatever you want to call them are essential. Some of these works are quite large and have already been shrunk down to the size of a two page spread. A magnifying glass certainly helps but enlarged details would make appreciation of the works easier. Fourth, and this is specific to Bosch’s work, there is very little of his surviving oeuvre and Bosch scholars are constantly disputing what is and is not an “original” Bosch. Valuable pages have been spent on showing us what the followers and the workshop of Bosch created when that space could be used to show us details of painting we know that he made for sure.
I still enjoyed this book. It doesn’t claim to be some kind of comprehensive or even in depth look at the wonderful bizarre and beautifully terrifying work of the master. It’s and introduction, and not a bad one.
If you want a better look at the garden of earthly delights here’s a lovely link for you:

https://archief.ntr.nl/tuinderlusten/...

[Liz Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting. A small book I purchased at El Prado gift store back in August of 2016, when they held El Bosco's greatest retrospective. The exhibit blew me away and this little treasure of a book/pamphlet was great, considering the little historians really know about his personal life. Finally picked it up to read, and glad I did. Read it in Spanish but just makes me want to go back to El Museo del Prado and resee his paintings that are there, besides "El Jardin de las Delicias", which though I've seen at least 50 times, always makes you wanting more!!! A true genius who inspired many painters, including my beloved Dalí.

[Roger Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una revisión muy entretenida y bien ilustrada de este pintor que se caracterizo por una visión muy fantasiosa de su época y entorno político religioso.

[perperuna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Piszę w odniesieniu do wydania polskiego z 2005 roku ISBN: 83-60160-17-1, którego mimo obecności w bazie nie dodaję na półkę z uwagi na brak dwukropka w tytule, z którym nie mogę się pogodzić.

Trudno źle ocenić książkę traktującą o tak fascynującym artyście jak Bosch, ale album ma jedną istotną wadę: obrazy nie zawsze są prezentowane w całości. Tekst omawia fragmenty, których zwyczajnie nie zobaczymy na stronach tej książki, albo nie zobaczymy ich w wystarczająco dużym powiększeniu czy dostatecznie dobrej jakości. Szybkie googlowanie jest często niezbędne.

Poza tym zdarzają się drobne, ale drażniące pomyłki. Miejscami zostajemy przekierowani do strony, na której obiecany obraz się nie znajduje, czasami w ogóle nie otrzymujemy wskazówek, chociaż obraz znajduje się kilkadziesiąt stron dalej, czasami dostajemy też błędny opis prezentowanego dzieła.

Niedosyt po tych 96 stronach jest odczuwalny. Raczej lepiej jest od razu sięgnąć po nieco konkretniejsze wydanie.

[Петко Ристић · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meine seit kurzem aufgekommene Faszination für die Kunst der Malerei, wovon ich nach wie vor so gut wie nichts verstehe, deren Vielfalt gleichwohl meine Fantasie beflügelt, hat mich zu meinem ersten Buch geführt in der die Gemälde des niederländischen Malers Hieronymus Bosch detailliert gezeigt und erklärt werden. Für Interessierte gibt es hier einiges zu sehen. Durch einen meiner Lieblingsschriftsteller Baltasar Gracian, der im "Kritikon" oft Inspirationen aus den Werken Hieronymus Bosch's gezogen und so manches daraus für seine eigene Geschichte versinnbildlicht hat, bin ich also gerade auf Bosch als ersten Maler gestoßen, mit dem ich mich näher beschäftigte.

Ich werde hier nichts zu seiner Person oder seinen Ansichten sagen, zumal ohnehin wenig bekannt ist, noch werde ich detaillierter auf Einzelne seiner Gemälde eingehen die mich besonders entzückten. Viel eher will ich nur sagen dass mich die Ausdruckskraft, Buntheit und Reichhaltigkeit seiner Gemälde auf eine ganz eigentümliche Weise berührten. Mehr als die Hälfte seiner Gemälde sind durch christliche Themen inspiriert, enthalten eine Unmenge an Kritik gegen die Menschheit und strotzen nur so von skurrilen und bizarren Darstellungen, die sich verschiedentlich deuten lassen können, gleichsam aber auch klare Botschaften beinhalten.

Ein solches Kunstwerk zu betrachten ist keine Sache die man in Sekunden erledigt, vielmehr ist es wie ein Film; so ist z.B. im "Gärten der Gelüste" eine unglaubliche Mannigfaltigkeit zu betrachten, welches so viele Details und Szenen beinhaltet, die eine ganz eigene Botschaft enthalten. Leicht ist das Grundthema erkannt, aber innerhalb dieses Meisterwerk's spielen sich unglaublich viele Szenen ab, die zu betrachten und deuten nicht nur das Gemüt erfreuen, sondern auch die Vorstellungskraft fördern.

Faszinierend ist insbesondere, mal ganz abgesehen von dem schier unerschöpflichen und übermenschlichen Talent Bosch's als Ganzes, die Tatsache dass er viele heilige Szenen des Christentums zeitgenössisch, also mittelalterlich, bearbeitete, um sie so anscheinend seine Zeitgenossen unmittelbar vorzulegen.

So finden sich immer wiederkehrende Symbole in einzelnen Gemälden die dem ganzen Werk eine ganz eindeutige Botschaft geben, wie etwa die im "Ecce Homo" enthaltene Türkenflagge. Die Peiniger Christi sind hier auch in osmanischen Gewändern dargestellt, womit Bosch anscheinend auf die islamische Gefahr die dem Christentum durch die Invasionen der Türken im Balkan droht darstellen wollte. Die ersten christlichen Opfer ihrer Eroberungen waren bekanntlich die Griechen, Serben und Bulgaren, die sich den Türken zwar tapfer entgegenstellen, aber der Übermacht auf Dauer nicht stand halten konnten. Die darauffolgenden türkischen Gräueltaten und Massaker gegenüber allen die sich nicht gleich haben islamisieren haben lassen, sind gewiß auch Hieronymus Bosch zu Ohren gekommen.

Und so findet man vieles was im Mittelalter ein Thema war in Bosch's Gemälden wieder. Ich empfand bei der Betrachtung seiner reichhaltigen Werke nur allzu oft eine unerklärliche Anziehungskraft. Nur allzu gerne werde ich bei Gelegenheit die ausgestellten Gemälde, die ich finanziell zu sehen vermag, irgendwann in Natura betrachten.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taschen art books are for me a trusted source for information about an artist and his or her works. This one, by Walter Bosing, dealing with the fantastic and nightmarish works of Hieronymus Bosch is no exception. That said, the picture quality could have been a higher resolution and while the book was filled with much valuable information, the way it was presented made it a bit difficult, making it necessary to flip back or forward frequently whenever a work was referenced; as much a physical exercise as a mental one.

The genius of Bosch speaks for itself, just by looking at the reprints of his works (which I hope to one day see in person); one can easily see by looking at works like Garden of Earthly Delights or Temptation of St. Anthony just how his vivid imagination influenced the likes of Salvador Dali and the monsters of George Lucas. The explanations in this work are helpful in making sense of some of the bizarre images, giving historical context and explaining metaphors that may have been well-known to people in that time and place, but that are not so evident to modern viewers.

[Kirill Protasenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeśli pominiemy „Ogród rozkoszy” Boscha, to jego pozornie niezwykle surrealistyczny i mistyczny sposób malowania doskonale wpisuje się w ramy formalnych dogmatów kościelnych i idei późnego średniowiecza, przy całym satyrycznym ponurym nastroju, charakterystycznym dla malarstwa holenderskiego.

W istocie mamy do czynienia z autorem komiksów dla klasy zamożnej, ściśle zgodnych z ówczesnymi ideami chrześcijańskimi. Niezależnie od tego jak fantastyczne mogą wydawać się jego obrazy, nie są one bardziej fantastyczne niż opowieści biblijne i proste ludzkie wierzenia na temat tego, jak wygląda niebo, piekło i demony.

Ciekawostką jest, że rok po śmierci Boscha, Marcin Luter opublikował 95 tez, które położyły kres średniowiecznej wierze i kościołowi, wyznaczając początek zupełnie nowej ery renesansu i kapitalizmu w ludzkiej cywilizacji.

[Mari Cordero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro muy interesante, de mucha observación, es cortito pero se vuelve lento por la cantidad de información y análisis de pinturas, otro detalle que atrasa es que la pintura no esta al lado de la información entonces hay que estar adelantando o buscando la pintura, únicamente por esa razón no le di 5 estrellas

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting overview of what is known about a fascinating artist, and of the symbology in his art. The text seems a little stilted in places, but that is most likely the fault of the translation rather than the author.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of Bosch, but as my uni tutors described my essays — highly descriptive. Could also have done with more enlarged sections from the paintings — the size of the reproductions (generally two A4 pages for an entire altarpiece triptych) makes it difficult to appreciate the details.

[Detroit Killer Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penetrating look into the pysche of pre-Christian and late Medieval Catholic Europe before it was all swept away by the Protestant Reformation.

[Prundeanu Ciprian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great illustrations, a highly imaginative painter.

[laurentiu]

0

[Wu Shih · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esauriente dal punto di vista critico, belle riproduzioni.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 would be a better rating.
The explanation of the symbolism of objects in the paintings was very useful information.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prima boekje, maar de schilderijen van Bosch worden gedomineerd door suf Katholicisme en hebben - naast een paar merkwaardig angstaanjagende monsters - weinig te bieden aan de moderne mens.

[Larsen Puch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro para conocer, comprender y valorar la obra de un genio de la pintura.

[Iryna Bochko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il libro non è male per crearsi un idea generica su Bosch (Jeronimus van Aeken, detto Bosch). Ma non è abbastanza per chi vuole approfondire. L'ho letto perché stavo per visitare una mostra a Venezia, dedicata ai suoi dipinti.
Però per scoprire di più si deve andare al Museo del Prado di Madrid.
Pittore fiammingo ipingeva essere mostruosi, diavoli e demoni. Le sue opere sono spesso trasposizioni visive di giochi di parole e matfore verbali. Non è riconducibile a nessuna scuola in particolare. Bosch condivideva questo gusto per il mostruoso con la sua epoca, in cui le forme grottesche e innaturali esercitavano un certo fascino.

[Marco Gereda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las explicaciones de la vida y obra son buenas, con varias referencias históricas y geográficas... el esquema explicación - ilustración a 5 paginas adelante o atrás, corta la lectura al tener tantos detalles en las pinturas.

[Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it is a very nice book. Just as other reviewers have said, Bosing’s narrative is clear and also generous in space with the various interpretations that have been proposed for Bosch’s paintings. The quality of the images is excellent, as one would expect from Taschen, and they are as thoroughly commented as a book this length allows. I think it is an outstanding first approach to this enigmatic painter.

That said, there are a few mildly annoying editing details that stain this book. First, there are works from other painters that the author refers to somewhat constantly which were not included. I would understand if they had not included all of them, but none? This does not prevent the understanding of the author’s statements, but it would have made it a lot easier. Second, the distribution of the paintings throughout the book is really bad. I often found myself going back and forward several pages in order to see what the author was talking about, which got very annoying after a while. Finally, I found a lot of typos (more than 10) in the spanish edition.

[Bernie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual Taschen provided a book with great illustrations in a easy to handle hardback. These books are usually a good introduction to an artist but I feel this time it went further. I suppose because there is so little information on the artist Hieronymus Bosch it delved into the painting with more depth.
I was fortunate enough to see the exhibition held in his home town Hertogenbosch celebrating the 500th anniversary of his death. This book helped me to have a better understanding of his work before I went to see the original work.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book at a used bookstore in Venice, Florida for $3! I bought it primarily for the images of Bosch's paintings, many of which I hadn't seen before. But I also found the text informative (although there were some terrible grammatical errors), and in several cases I felt like I learned something because of the context provided by the text. As other people have commented, the illustrations are incredible, both in quality and content. It's a perfect introduction to Bosch and had me enthralled throughout.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good book about Bosch's art. Very readable and interesting

[Melzanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

totally rad representation.