Bosch. Bazhenov V.M.

The most mysterious artist of the Middle Ages, the creator of nightmares and a man with an incredible imagination - Jerome Bosch has always excited the minds of all lovers of painting. His works are full of mysteries, and private life is now remaining a secret behind seven seals. In the heritage of Jerome Bosch, there are only 25 paintings and 8 drawings. Among them are the main masterpieces of Bosch, are large altar triptihi, full of incredible creatures, as if living in parallel worlds or other galaxies. The mysterious life of the great painter (Boskh’s biographical information has been preserved very little), in our time, a considerable number of literary and historical speculations in our time. He was considered sorcerers and magicians, heretics and alchemists engaged in the search for philosophical stone, and even accused of secret conspiracy with Satan, who, in exchange for the immortal soul, gave him a unique talent to penetrate other worlds and display them on the canvas.

Bosch is an atypical artist in the panorama of Dutch painting and one of a kind in European painting of the 15th century. How to interpret his paintings, where did he draw the sources of inspiration, who in reality his heroes are? I must say that in the literature of the Middle Ages there was already a rich tradition of describing strange creatures and mythical environments. Proverbs, sermons, fairy tales and biblical allegories had a medieval imagination. The uniqueness of Bosch was that he developed this visual language, thanks to the illustrations of mysterious creatures. Previously, there was an opinion that the “devilry” in Bosch’s paintings was intended to only amuse the audience and tickle their nerves. But modern historians of art came to the conclusion that in the work of Bosch a much deeper meaning was enclosed, and made many attempts to explain its meaning, find its origins and give it an interpretation. Some researchers even called Bosch the “surrealist” of the 15th century, who extracted his outlandish images from the depths of the subconscious like Salvador Dali. Others believe that the art of Bosch reflects medieval “esoteric disciplines” - alchemy, astrology, black magic. In order to get closer to the unraveling of the secrets of Bosch, you need to understand what time he lived, who surrounded him, and what influenced his work. Let's try to figure it out.