Bosch: The 5th Centenary Exhibition

A comprehensive look at the work of Jheronimus Bosch, published to coincide with the 5th centenary of the artist’s death and in conjunction with an exhibition at the Museo del Prado

Jheronimus van Aken (1450–1516) was born and lived in the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) in North Brabant; in signing himself “Jheronimus Bosch” he linked his fame to his native city. In Spain, where he was known as “el Bosco,” his work earned considerable acclaim early in his career.

Bosch came from a long line of painters and soon mastered the skills of his craft. In stylistic terms, however, he departed from tradition, developing his own outlook. His inventive approach to both content and form is a hallmark of his work. Bosch played a pioneering role in the transformation of Flemish painting techniques in the early sixteenth century. Nowhere is this radical change more apparent than in his direct application of dabs of paint to the pictorial surface to create highlights and nuances or to define forms, almost ...