Essay Sample on Northern Renaissance and Reformation

Bosch Hieronymus` masterpiece, “The Garden of Earthly Delights," has been a strange and intriguing piece of art that has baffled enthusiasts of paintings more than the mystery behind the smile of the Monalisa. The painting is a masterpiece, and several intriguing facts can be noted about the art from the documentary watched. Firstly, when it is enclosed, one sees empty earth. The artist was able to paint a picture of the third day of creation where the earth had been created, and man had not been put on the earth. The earth appears desolate and lacks vibrance. The art has, unlike the ones before it used dull colors across its whole panel to showcase the desolate earth. Previous paintings in the Netherlands used vibrant colors to depict occurrences. It is, therefore, important to consider why the imagery was exaggerated and have illustrations on how the artist depicted earth, heaven, and hell.

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Why the Imagery was so Exaggerated

I think the image of the garden of earthly delights is so exaggerated due to the depiction of the earth where the land is shown to be floating on water. Furthermore, physical pictures like mountains are depicted as having peculiar shapes and sizes that are totally out of this world. Another exaggerated description is of the animals in the garden of Eden; they are given weird shapes and sizes, showing that many were them were just an exaggerated version as per the imagination of Bosch (Garden Of Earthly Delights 6:46-7:34). Humans in the middle part of the earth are depicted to be driven by lust in all their endeavors and encounters. The artist does not acknowledge the meeting of humans for other purposes other than due to desire. The exaggerations in the right panel than depict hell showcases all monstrosities and strange creatures that are going to torment humans who end up there due to their sinful nature.

When the art is closed, one can see how the land and the sea were separated from the sky, with the light being separated from the darkness. Another intriguing detail is how the lower half of the painting is filled with water and land, depicting that the land sits on water according to the artist. There are words written in Latin that are noticeable at the top of the painting. The painting opens up into three parts; a left side, a centerpiece, and the right piece. The three parts are used by the artist to depict the three stages that man was to pass through after the creation of the earth. They include the Garden of Eden, which is on the left side where God placed man after creation; the middle part is the world where the man was to fall unto sin and the right section, which depicts hell where the man was to pay the wages of sin through suffering.

The Artist's Depiction of Heaven, Earth, and Hell

I think the author’s depiction of heaven, earth, and hell was very accurate. In the hallucinatory invention and lurid color, the three worlds are successfully depicted. In the left panel, we God is depicted in a youthful nature like Jesus Christ, and He introduces Adam and Eve. The left depicts what awaits man in the dungeons of hell when they sin, including torture by all the monsters that are available (Garden Of Earthly Delights 27:26-28:48). The middle part, which represents the earth, is sorts of draws an accurate image of the society today with people having being driven by lust.

Conclusion

The artist's imagery was so exaggerated and used the work to depict the earth, heaven, and hell. From how Bosch portrayed these three pieces into superb landscapes, it shows his eye for detail. He showcases his freedom of thought and even prophesies the behavior of the modern world.

Work Cited

"The Garden Of Earthly Delights." YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx14iDiyC3Q&feature=youtu.be. Accessed 1 Apr. 2018.