St. Jerome 1480, OGNISSANTI, FLORENCE, ITALY
The Calling of St. Peter 1482, SISTINE CHAPEL, VATICAN
The Birth of Mary c.1485–90, SANTA MARIA NOVELLA, FLORENCE, ITALY
BOSCH
c.1450–1516 • LATE GOTHIC, NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
The Garden of Earthly Delights, (detail—central panel)
c.1510 OIL ON WOOD
CENTRAL PANEL 220 × 195 CM (86½ × 76¾ IN)
WINGS OF TRIPTYCH 220 × 97 CM (86½ × 38 IN)
MUSEO DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN
This large triptych is an account of life, death and the seven deadly sins. The garden in the central panel is filled with nudes, animals and giant fruit, representing the avarice and gluttony of life during Bosch’s time. The adjoining panel shows the consequential horrors of hell.
Hieronymus Bosch became extremely popular for his large landscapes featuring fantastic, unearthly beasts and nightmarish visions representing the sins of the human race and the torments of hell.
Little is known about the life of Jeroen van Aken, who adopted the name Hieronymus Bosch after his home town of Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, an urbanized and industrial location, known for its manufacture of textiles and its extensive trade with northern Europe and Italy.
Bosch’s grandfather, father, three of his uncles and one of his two brothers were artists, and taught him to paint. The new prosperity of northern European cities and the growth of capitalism initiated an interest in religious reform, while Bosch’s lifetime was marked by numerous momentous discoveries and events. It was also a time of violence, ignorance, superstition and pessimism. In response to all this, although his early work was fairly traditional, he soon abandoned such expected imagery and departed from the established conventions of painting, creating a fantasy world of passion and damnation. During 1480 or 1481, he married Alety Goyaerts van den Meervenne, an older woman from a wealthy family, which gave him a comfortable lifestyle and an improved social status. As a Catholic, in 1486 he joined the Brotherhood of Our Lady, a large local religious organization. Some of his first commissions came through the Brotherhood, although none of those works has survived.
Bosch rarely traveled far from home, but it is believed that he painted an altarpiece for the Archduke Philip of Austria in 1504. His paintings summarized the prevalent fears of his times, particularly those related to sin and human conscience, as well as the political upheavals of the day, and his moralistic, direful images urged viewers to avoid wrongdoing. Full of symbolism, these paintings cautioned against corruption and sinfulness in imagery that was understood by all, including the illiterate lower classes. Unique, vivid, terrifying, often pessimistic and meticulously detailed, they incorporate fantastic, strange creatures and situations. Pictures like this had never been seen before and soon the most important individuals of the time commissioned work from him. Although many are signed, none of his pictures is dated, which has caused confusion and numerous works have been attributed to him, but only about 30 have been verified as his.
By the time of his death, Bosch was celebrated as an unconventional painter of religious visions who focused on the consequences of a sinful life. His work became a major inspiration, not only for contemporary artists, but also for the Surrealists over 400 years later.
Key Works
Christ Carrying the Cross 1485–90, KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Haywain (Triptych) 1485–90, MUSEO DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN
Ecce Homo 1490, STÄDELSCHES KUNSTINSTITUT MIT STÄDTISCHER GALERIA, FRANKFURT, GERMANY
Christ Carrying the Cross 1490, MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS, GHENT, BELGIUM
Flight and Failure of St. Anthony 1500, MUSEU NACIONAL DE ARTE ANTIGA, LISBON, PORTUGAL
High Renaissance to Mannerism
c.1500–1600
As European artists consciously rejected the Medieval past and initiated a rebirth of styles that looked to classical antiquity for its inspiration, their work became more diverse, idealistic and dexterous. The artistic revolution matured with a massive outpouring of creativity that resulted in what has become known as the High Renaissance and Mannerism.
Intellectual curiosity
Although artists were conscious of their remarkable developments during this time, they did not label themselves—as history has done for them. So there is no clear-cut change from Early to High Renaissance. The development to what has since been categorized as the High Renaissance is generally accepted as occurring at the turn of the 16th century, when Leonardo da Vinci was establishing the idea of the artist as “genius.” The great 16th-century artists benefited from a distinction and respect during their lifetimes that they have never lost.
The High Renaissance essentially describes the culmination of the artistic developments of the Early Renaissance and a great upsurge of exceptional creative brilliance. Through his total command of artistic skills, his intellectual curiosity and his inquiries into the physical world, Leonardo da Vinci initiated the idea of a universal man: one who was skilled in fields as diverse as art, music and scientific endeavor—the polymath. Intellectual skills in the arts, which included astronomy, geometry, music, poetry, sculpture, painting and architecture, were seen as prerequisites for an artist to attract fame, status and financial success. During the period, painting and sculpture reached a peak of technical competence, expression and proportion. Painters managed forms, colors, tonal effects, perspective, proportion, composition and anatomy with control and outstanding skill. Similarly, sculptors favored balance, proportion, accurate anatomical details, idealism and beauty. Both painting and sculpture were usually commissioned to decorate or embellish the distinguished High Renaissance architecture that was being built for the glory of God or for rich and powerful men.
Confidence and extravagance
Most of these new creative inventions and developments had been concentrated in the city of Florence, but in the 16th century, Rome became another important cultural center. As the Popes began their extravagant project of rebuilding St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, they also introduced the assured and immense paintings of Michelangelo and Raphael in the Sistine Chapel. Leonardo brought attention to Milan through his work there from 1481 and, following on from the precedent set by Bellini (c.1430–1516), the artists Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese highlighted Venice as another worthy cultural center of the High Renaissance. Nevertheless, the grandeur and harmony of Florence and Rome contrasted greatly with the lively explosions of color being painted in Venice.
One of the significant developments of the period was the changes in the materials artists used. At the start of the Renaissance, most painting was either fresco or tempera (quick-drying powdered pigment mixed with egg) on wooden panels. As the use of oil paint spread from northern Europe, artists found that they could blend tones, incorporate intricate details in their work and correct mistakes easily that had not been possible before.
Increasing exaggeration
Until about 1520, the High Renaissance thrived confidently. Then Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation tore central Europe apart, the Ottoman Empire of Turkey advanced on Vienna and the plague recurred repeatedly, changing Europe forever. Reacting to the unrest, several artists began abandoning some of the harmonious ideals of the Renaissance in favor of a more emotional approach. They imitated Michelangelo’s mature, gestural painterly style featuring graceful and expressive contrapposto (“counterpoise”) figures, distorting or elongating them and placing them in unrealistic settings. In the 20th century, the style was labeled retrospectively as “Mannerism” after the Italian maniera (“style” or “stylishness”). Mannerism focused on exaggerated figures, colors and compositions that expressed the new religious doubts and questionings.