symbolism in the paintings by hieronymos bosch

8/9/2019 Symbolism in the Paintings by Hieronymos Bosch

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Symbolism in the paintings by Hieronymos Bosch

-Joannes Richter-

Overview

In the Middle Age illiterate people used another type of symbols for communication. Instead ofreading, writing and speaking linguistic symbols they used colours and iconographic elements forthe transfer of ideas and formulation of thoughts.

As an architect Alaert du Hameel was in charge of the work on the famous cathedral of St. John at's-Hertogenbosch from 1478-1494. He competed the southern aisle of the transept and laid out thecentral nave. Both Alaert du Hameel and Hieronymos Bosch were close friends and they must haveshared some ideas. Alaert du Hameel is known to have been a mason, master of the Lodge, stone-

carver and in 1480 as an engraver he became an interpreter of Bosch's work.In the Marriage of Cana Bosch paints a swan, the symbol of the Brotherhood of Our Lady. Everyyear a banquet of the swan used to be celebrated.

Apart from these well-known symbols and facts already identified by others, we will nowconcentrate on the other unknown symbols, which may be identified by analysis of the colouringschemes, which were popular at the Middle Age.

Hieronymos Bosch has been a master of symbolizing by coloured icons and his tales must havebeen open books to the illiterate people and the wise men and sovereigns, who needed his works tocontrol the unknowing common people.

Most of the medieval knowledge of original religious symbolism disappeared at the end of theMiddle Age.

The following rules seem to be valid for all Bosch' paintings:

(Except for the Marriage at Cana) Jesus as a Creator and almighty God is dressed in red. In contrast the mocked (suffering) Jesus is wearing white orgreenish-white In contrast the suffering Jesus (wearing a crucifix) is wearing blue garments As an unidentified visitor at The Marriage at Cana Jesus is dressed in black The Virgin Mother is always wearing a blue orredrobe.

Bosch painted approximately 60 paintings, of which 22 have been analysed. Most of the red & blue-colour-symbolism has been found in the Garden of Earthly Delights.The preliminary results of the study have been listed in the following table:

Fig. 1: The Creator God, Jesus, Maria and the

apostles


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Title God Jesus Mary Angels

& Saints

Evil

powers

1 The Seven Deadly Sins (Madrid) red(almighty)

all colours(blue angels)

2 The Cure of Folly

3 The Ship of Fools

4 The Hay-wain red(almighty &

Creator)

red(almighty)

red &blueish-white

5 The Adoration of the Magi (Epiphany) blue red & blue

6 The Marriage at Cana black (un-identified ?)

7 The last Judgement (Vienna) red (Creator) red (Creator) blue all colours

8 Paradise and the Ascent

9 Last Judgment (Brussels) red(almighty)

10 Christ Mocked (Brussels) white(suffering)

11 Christ Mocked(Ecce Homo, Madrid, Escorial)

white-green(suffering)

yellow &green

(soldier)

12 Ecce Homo (Frankfurt/Boston) blueish-white(suffering)

13 Ascent to Cavalry (Vienna)(Jesus is wearing a crucifix)

blue(suffering)

14 Temptation of St. Anthony

(Madrid, Prado)

yellow

(tempted)15 Temptation of St. Anthony

(Madrid, Prado)yellow

(tempted)

16 Temptation of St. Anthony(Lisbon)

blue(tempted)

17 St. Jerome at Prayer white & red

18 Altarpiece of the Hermits red, blue, &green

19 St. John the Baptist red

20 Last Judgement (Munich)

21 St. Julia Altarpiece red & green(suffering)

22 Garden of Earthly Delights red (Creator)

23 St. Christopher (Escorial) red (Child) red

24 St. John the Baptist red

25 Christ Carrying the Cross (Ghent) brown(suffering)

26 Epiphany (1475-1480) red

Table 1: Paintings by Hieronymos Bosch


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Triptych of the Last Judgements (Vienna)

In the Viennese Triptych of the Last Judgements we may identify the divine clothes for Jesus andthe Creator God in the left and central panels as red garments. The garments for Maria are blue. Thearchangel wears a red robe and may be wearing dark (blue ?) wings.

The 12 apostles wear red, blue, green, white and a rather strange brownish mixture for background

persons.

The seven deadly Sins and the last four Things

At the right upper cornerThe seven deadly Sins and the last four Things 1 does also contain a sceneof theLast Judgements, which reveals a Creator and almighty Jesus, dressed in red robes, amongstangels and male & female saints, dressed in red, white, blue, green en brown (?).

The Tryptich of the Haywain

The Tryptich of the Haywain2 reveals red garments for the divine persons. The archangel wears ared robe over blueish white garments.

1 Prado, Madrid2 Monastery of St. Lawrence, Escorial

Fig. 5: The Creator God, Jesus, Maria and the apostles

Fig. 3: Jesus, Adam-Eve Fig. 4: Creator GodFig. 2: Archangel


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St. Christopher

St. Christopher3 is wearing a red robe over a white garment carrying the Child dressed in dark red.

St. Julian Altarpiece

At the central panel of St. Julian Altarpiece4

the crucified saint Julia at the cross is wearing a redrobe over green garment.

St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness5

St. John is wearing a red robe.

St. Jerome at Prayer6

St.Jerome is dressed in white garments, but he has a red robe laying at his side.

The Epiphany7

At the central panel the three Magi are wearing white, red and blue. The Virgin Mother is dressed inblue garments. The left and right panel each contain two observing persons dressed in red and blue.

Altarpiece of the Hermits

At the central panel of the Altarpiece of the Hermits 8 St. Jerome wears a red robe, whereas St.Anthony (left) is wearing blue and St. Giles (right) is wearing green-blueish (?) robes.

Christ MockedBoth scenes (in Brussels and Madrid) for mocked Jesus Christ reveal white dresses.

Ecce Homo

In Ecce Homo Jesus Christ is wearing white respectively white and black garments.

Epiphany

In Epiphany the Virgin Mother is wearing a red robe over a dark-coloured garment.

3 Museum Boymans van Beuningen - Rotterdam4 Venice, Palazzo Ducale (possibly earlier than 1505)

5 Madrid, Museo Lazaro-Galdiano6 Ghent, Museum of Arts, probably later than 15057 Madrid, Prado8 Venice, Palazzo Ducale


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The Marriage at Cana

At the The Marriage at Cana Jesus has been dressed in black or dark grey (to indicate hisunidentified divine powers?). In this scene Jesus changed his life. Up till this moment his divine

powers had not been revealed to the people.

The interpretation of Bosch' painting is rather difficult and it is helpful to compare the image tocontemporary painting of a fellow-artist: Gerard David9 (c. 1460 August 13, 1523), who locatedJesus at a similar table-position with a similar gesture. In contrast to Bosch David clearly identifiesJesus by painting the radiant corona at the heads of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. This paintingclarifies Bosch' work. Both artists may have known each other's work.

9Gerard David (c. 1460 August 13, 1523) was an Early Dutch painter and manuscript illuminator knownfor his brilliant use of colour.

Fig. 6: The Marriage at Cana (Bosch)


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Fig. 7: The Marriage at Cana (by Gerard David)


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Ascent to Calvary

At the Ascent to Calvary10a suffering Jesus Christ is wearing a blue robe.

10 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Fig. 8: Ascent to Calvary


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Christ Mocked (Crowning with Thorns) 11

11 Madrid, Escorial

Fig. 9: Christ Mocked (Crowning with Thorns)


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Triptych Garden of Earthly Delights

The Triptych by Hieronymos Bosch (Madrid, Prado) has been dated 1510, or even earlier 1503-1504. Philip II had the Garden of Delights in his collection.

Numerous interpretations have been published for the famous Triptych of Delights. Generally thepainting has been interpreted as a moral and didactic lecture. However the symbolism, which mayhave been well-known in the Middle Age, must be reinterpreted.

The left inner wing displays The Earthly Paradise, in which Adam and Eve are being created. Thecentral panel reveals fertility in a blossoming society and the right wing in contrast the punishment.

The paradise and the human society reveals only adults and does not contain any aged persons orvery young children.

The painter obviously may have been inspired by various, mythical metaphors and alchemy, which

probably have been coded in numerous symbols. The most apparent antagonists are the female andmale bodies in androgynous pairs, the colours red (pink) versus blue, and the colours white versusblack.

Interpretation of the colours may have been important in medieval eras, but forgotten today. Someof these colourings may be understood by contrasting the elements in various details, which have

been subtracted from theWikipedia file .

The analysis clearly identifies pink (rose-red) and blue as the central symbolic elements, referring tohuman fertility and the androgynous creation legend. Of course red and blue have been identified inother documents and paintings, especially in the illuminated medieval Bible's manuscripts andmedieval religious icons and other paintings.

For further information: see e.g.: The Fundamental Color Symbols Blue and Red

Fig. 10: Tryptich Garden of Delights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_by_Bosch_High_Resolution.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_by_Bosch_High_Resolution.jpghttp://www.scribd.com/doc/21407465/The-Fundamental-Color-Symbols-Blue-and-Redhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/21407465/The-Fundamental-Color-Symbols-Blue-and-Redhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_by_Bosch_High_Resolution.jpg


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Historical details

Provenance: by 1517: Henry III, Count of Nassau (?) 1538: inherited by William I, Prince of Orange (?) 1568: confiscated by Fernando lvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba (?)

Date unknown: acquired by Don Fernando (?) 1591: bought by Philip II of Spain (?) 1593: transferred to the Monasterio de El Escorial 1939: transferred to the Museo del Prado, Madrid, from the Escorial

One of the owners of the painting may have been William I, Prince of Orange. It must be noted thatthe William I, Prince of Orange has adopted the kingfisher as his favourite bird. The kingfisherhowever has been painted twice in the Triptych of Delights. The bird reveals blue-green, white andorange colours, which partly will also be found in the original tricolour flag of the Netherlands.The first owner may even have ordered to apply the colours rose-red and blue and/or the kingfisheras elements for the paintings.

At the right side of the kingfisher a white man and a dark-skinned woman may be observed. Thecontrast of the white and black skin of the human couple may also be correlated to the mirrored

colours orange and blue-green of the kingfisher, which may refer to the symbolic colours blue(female) and red (male).

Fig. 11: Kingfisher and black & white couple
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spainhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Monasterio_de_El_Escorialhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Monasterio_de_El_Escorialhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spainhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Monasterio_de_El_Escorial


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Male and Female Couples

There seems to be a preference for couples of male and female persons. Male and female gendersmay be seen as completely equivalent. There is no sign of any subordinate gender.

Only two clothed persons may be identified in the painting:

A divine Creator dressed as Jesus in a red robe.

A dressed (?) man in the right lower corner of the main panel. He or his neighbour ispointing to a seated woman with a sealed mouth and holding a piece of fruit. Next to thecouple a bird - quite similar to the kingfisher - is watching the scene. The woman is gazingat the bird, but she cannot speak...

Bosch may have been a member of a sect (the Adamites ?) and as a member he may have beenforced to hide some of the secret codes of the sect's message. Particularly as the androgyny of theAdamites may have influenced the painter's symbolism and his work. The secret colour code forandrogyny has been: red (as a male symbol), blue (as a female symbol) and purple (as a divine or

androgynous symbol).

Fig. 12: Dressed man in the Garden of Delights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adamiteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adamites


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The central towers

In an overview the upper part of the central panel reveals five tower constructions, which have beendesigned by combining rose-red (pink) and blue colours. The symmetry has been carefully balancedto equalize the pink and blue elements. These colours probably symbolize the male and femaleforces in creation.

Fig. 13: Five central towers in rose-red and blue colours

Fig. 14: Central three towers in rose-red and blue


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Even in the detailed view the towers (especially the right-sided tower) reveal a great number of roseand blue elements, which may refer to male and female symbolism.

Fig. 15: Right-sided tower with rose-red and blue elements


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The blue and rose-red Berries as symbols for Fertility

The painting does reveal a great number of red-rose (pink) and blue berries, which may beexplained as the symbols for fertility. These will be displayed in a few detail views.

Fig. 16: Rose and Blue Berries as symbols of fertility


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The inside view clearly depicts male and female fertility inside the pink-red & blue berry

Fig. 17: Rose and Blue Berries as symbols of male & female fertility


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Red, rose and blue berries as fertility symbols for the human couples...

Fig. 18: Red-Rose and Blue Berries as symbols of fertility


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Some more red and blue berries as fertility symbols for the human couples...

Fig. 19: Rose and Blue Berries as symbols of fertility


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Fig. 20: Rose-red and Blue Berries as symbols of fertility


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The following detail reveals a central sphere covered with red and blue veins, symbolizing male andfemale forces. Of course a great number ofredand blue berries are to be found around as fertilitysymbols...

Please check the (rose & blue?) colours at the flowers around the black lady's leg....

Fig. 21: sphere covered with red and blue veins, symbolizing male and female forces

Fig. 22: red and blue flowers (?)


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The Creation scene

The Creation scene displays the scene in which God creates Eve. The Creator has been dressed inred, which has been a common symbolic dress for male persons.

Fig. 23: The Creation of Eve


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The central creation symbol (detail) has been displayed as a pink or rose-red pillar (the fountain oflife as a male element ?) and blue foundation (as a female element ?):

Fig. 24: The central creation symbol (detail) as a rose-red pillar and blue foundation


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Fig. 25: The central creation symbol as a pink (rose-

red) fountain over a blue foundation


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At the left panel the initial mountains at creation have been coloured reddish and blueish toannounce the initiating male and female forces. The left-sided mountain is coloured reddish and theright-sided mountain blueish. The central mountain is a blueish formation, penetrated by a reddishelement. Please note the birds coloured white and black to symbolize the opposite sexes of theanimals, which will also be identified in the human race at the central panel...

Of course the blueish mountains have also been located in remote positions to indicate the fardistance from the observer. In fact however the may also be seen as the male and female forces in

statu nascendi.

Fig. 26: reddish and blueish mountains in statu nascendi


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The animals

The endless carousel of animals reveals several horses, which are being deceived by red and bluefruits to carry on their tour. These fruits symbolize the sexual attraction of both male and female

partners.

Fig. 27: endless carousel of animals


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At the bottom of the following photograph the bird's head reveals red and blue colours:

Fig. 28: Horses with red & blue fruits


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A blue (female ?) fish is swallowing a red (male) fish. The rabbit on top of the group maysymbolize fertility.

In the same scene the colour of the horses may be identified as blue-white-orange, which has beenused as the colour-combination of the first Dutch banner (Oranje, Blanje, Bleu to be translated asorange, blanc and light-blue):

Around 1572 the provinces of the Low Countries, rose in revolt against King Philip II of Spain, andthe Prince of Orange placed himself at the head of the rebels. The Watergeuzen (pro-independence

privateers), acting on his instructions, harassed the enemy everywhere they could and they did thisunder a tricolour Orange White Blue (in Dutch: Oranje, Wit, Blauw or Oranje, Blanje, Bleu, fromFrench Orange, Blanche, Bleu), the colours of the Prince's coat of arms. It was thus a flag easilyassociated with the leader of the rebellion, and the association was also expressed in the name: "thePrince's Flag."

Fig. 30: The Prince's flag

Fig. 29: red and blue fish over blue, white andred horses


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The bagpipe

In the punishment scene at the right panel the fountain of life has been mutated into a pink bagpipefertilizing a blue lady explaining the pink fountains in the creation scene and in the main panel asmale columns.

The reddish coloured bagpipe must be considered as a male symbol and the blue person underneaththe pipe is a female symbol, indicating pregnancy. The pink colour of the fountains and the bagpipemay also be considered to indicate blood in the pillar of blood.

Fig. 31: The red-rose bagpipe as a male and the blue person as a female symbol (detail)


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The scene of the bagpipe plateau as a fertility machine has been illustrated by the knife as a malesymbol, carrying an uncommon initial . Of course the ears are symbolizing the orchids.

Fig. 32: The red-rose bagpipe as a male and the blue person as a female symbol

symbolism in the paintings by hieronymos bosch

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