Hieronymus BoschJoin now to read essay Hieronymus BoschHieronymus BoschHorrendous torture, carnal mutilations, flying fish, the fires of hell, and the sinister depths of the human imagination are just a few of the illustrations found in the paintings of Bosch.
Hieronymus van Aken, commonly known Bosch, is acknowledged worldwide as one of the most popular and most intriguing artists in history. A true master of symbolism, this paradox-riddled man was a herald in genre painting and landscaping. He was a painter rich in ideas with what is seemingly irrational fanaticism enveloping his work. It is this enigmatic characteristic of his paintings that separate him from the mainstream of fifteenth century art.
Boschs fascination with the sins of man and thus the punishment for these sins also set him apart. He delved into the furthest reaches of his imagination to create punishments such as being eaten alive by rodent-like creatures. He painted an image of a severed hand pinned to a metal plate by a dagger. Clearly, Boschs provocative and perhaps even somewhat offensive ideas have proved his work to be the most bizarre of the time.
Much like his work, his life itself is a mystery. Records of friends, patrons, teachers, or any other factors that may have led him to the provocative subject matter included in his paintings are nonexistent. It is this lack of general information that suggests that he led a secluded life in a town that is well outside the mainstream of established Dutch painting; s Hertogenbosch. What is known is that he was married, owned a house, and died at the age of sixty in 1516. He is also said to have contributed several altarpieces and stained glass window designs to the Cathedral of St. John in his native city. Therefore, it is through his work that one is forced to try to further examine the man.
Sorting the works out is difficult. One has to go and look at them, but the most impressive of all is in Hertogenbosch’s collection that is composed of a wide range of works ranging from the celebrated works of Robert Conquest to the works of Saint John, including a fine line of paintings from a variety of genres from the classical to the contemporary. They all offer interesting stories about the individual painter, whose personality, in turn, plays a part in his character. The work is not limited in its time-frames or in its form; the works are often included as well in a large collection including works of other artists, such as the works of the late St. Ignatius Souto. As with a similar work of great influence and beauty, he shows his interest in the artist’s work under the same title and his life under the same title: The Life of John Hertogenbosch (1936-1965) (pp. 1, 2).
It is not uncommon for people to see pictures of friends and the artist’s work on the internet. The photographs themselves, along with others such as some from other collectors and art students, are always accessible to both new and those who may be considering purchasing from a museum. They may depict a man, his wife or son, or both. They may show the life of a rich man before he left his home town, before the age of seventy, or before long. They even suggest specific scenes that may have a bearing on the painter. This kind of search may yield only images of some artworks that may well help illuminate or tell the origin of some of the artistic talent of Hertogenbosch.
Hertogenbosch’s work is said to have begun with an attempt at a painting, which he did in 1517 while he was at the age of seventy-five, with an idea that soon turned into a well-known masterpiece. Although the exact date of this first attempt is still unknown, the painting was one of the most celebrated works of all time under the titles Of Sartius and Saint John. After his death in 1523, it is believed that as a result of his work the works were destroyed, with the help of his niece. The following passage by the Hens of Hertogenbosch shows another case of the loss due to his work:
I am ashamed of that I have been painting these works
No longer that I do them
I will come back again.
There is no doubt that Hertogenbosch was born in Hertogenbosch, a city in central Holland, in the late 10th century, on the small island of Hertogenbos and St. John
Boschs work displays conservative and reformist tendencies simultaneously. Unresolved tensions such as these were typical of the transitional era in which Bosch lived. The brewing cataclysm of the Reformation locked horns with the conservative church at every opportunity. As a matter of fact, the church was pushed for change from the inside as well. Perceptive clergymen were so convinced of the need for reform that they could commission altar paintings from an artist who was openly heretical, as long as public scandal could be avoided. Some of these altarpieces included Boschs The Garden of Earthly Delights (c.1500 Prado, Madrid), The Temptation of St. Anthony (c.1500 Museo National de Arte Antiga, Lisbon), and The Hay Wain (c.1485-90 Prado, Madrid). These are all symbol-laden pieces which acrimoniously satirize the church.
The Boschs may have had their own specific and peculiar ways of looking at church life which were shaped by their faith, but for some, the relationship between church and state was like a giant mirror whose true-nature is obscured by a thick veil of mystery. It is with such ambiguity that the Boschs created the so-called “carnage of the Catholic Church.” They were not merely believers in one religion, as one might imagine, but also their most dedicated followers and disciples, followers who had taken an active part in its worship. One cannot escape the impression, quite as often as other authors, that the sacraments could only be called religious because of one’s commitment to the sacraments that they proclaimed and proclaimed to the world.
Bosch’s work was not just a church-centered one; it was also a religious, political, and communal work, one devoted to the celebration of a “soul in the sky,” rather than one in which it was the sacred practice, as was the Christian Catholic Church of Spain, that the Catholic Church was supposed to offer to those who had made their participation in the celebration of the divine. (A Catholic priest, for example, could not ask whether God was using the sun to feed sinners.) While that tradition had some vestigial power and significance, Bosch’s work was not just a secular one, as some authors have often noted; it also had a certain political and religious value on grounds that the Catholic clergy had rejected, and in turn been very willing to tolerate, the Nazi Party.
As the year 1900 neared (and from one German book, and from other sources as long as there lived), even the most critical Bosch scholars and critics sought to avoid the Christian Catholic Church’s social implications. It seems possible that they were trying to avoid the actual problem by focusing on issues which were really important, such as the question of Catholic morality, the need to reconcile religious faith with private politics, about the nature and history of a modern state, religious freedom, and a moral culture in its present form; and others had their problems not merely within the Bosch group but also within the broader Catholic community. I would say that they were not able to bring them to mind at the top of their list, so they were more or less left off at the bottom. It was not that they disagreed with the Catholic Church’s ideas of what morality should be, or when, or even where this should be.
The Bosch group seems to have also tried to get the public to support their work. The main topic of debate was not Catholicism, but issues such as infantilisation, a lack of education, divorce and the birth control pill. Both were mentioned on the Web; the Web and this question (which also is linked to others which are related) were both linked to the Bosch group itself. There seemed to have been a very particular political stance by the Bosch group. The main issue in each section of a book which concerns the Bosch group, was that they did not consider anything to be moral rather than the main issue, so they were able to get the public to believe in their claims.
What they are calling the “American Catholic Society on Social Issues”, or “the American Catholic Society of Social Issues” on par with the Catholic Socialists and Social Democrats of Europe. They are a group which is quite different from the Catholic Socialists, in that they are not involved in the wider Catholic community. The Society of Social Issues, which was first mentioned in an article in 1994 by a Catholic sociologist named Paul Oeckel from the University of Wisconsin, is led by two members:
This is “about socialism – the attempt to abolish, to make social structures obsolete”, as Oeckel writes. It is “about the struggle for democratic rights, free will and the dignity of human beings”.
At least a large portion of what Oeckel writes, along with his writings, are published in this magazine rather than by the Society of Social Issues in general. Furthermore, he seems not to consider the work or even the Catholic Socialists of Europe to be the same as the Society of Social Issues. He notes that it was “too early to know how the American Catholic Society on Social Issues would play a significant role for the global world since they are no longer involved in the political, social or religious spheres” (p. 10).
The Society of Social Issues has the following history: In 1844; the Italian national convention recognized the right of all Protestant (Irish Catholic) persons to “have their rights and liberties respected at the same time”, a position which did not even give the name to the Protestant Church. In 1893, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Protestantism was a crime punishable by death, was announced. The Church issued the following statement:
At its meeting in Cleveland on 27 September 1843, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Fourteenth Amendment. It confirmed the doctrine enshrined in the Constitution of 1789, stating:
In no event should an individual be forced into any system of government, which will deprive him of the liberty, as well as the title, to his own estate, or title to property by the government. . . .
These events, however, did not put these rights to change, but to expand and broaden the rights of Protestant people to their rights as well. In 1913, in an article written by John Dobbins on the behalf of the Society of Social Issues, he writes that the current social institutions in this country were not created by a group of enlightened professionals, but are created by and by workers who have decided the best form of existence by which to express their opinions, without being directly elected by the people. This group of workers is one that Oeckel claims to have studied with immense care. In their article, Dobbins was the only one who has not written some significant article on the Catholic Socialists.
So even though the Society of Social Issues are still in existence, it is still in the public eye and not in print
Instead, I’d like to draw a comparison. First I’d like to illustrate and discuss what I believe and what Bosch was thinking. Second, since I am going to argue not only that Bosch was influenced by an extreme Catholic faith, but also that his writings on the Christian origins of the Christian religion were influenced by Protestant beliefs, what then is the role of the Christian Church going forward? We can take Bosch’s writings with a grain of salt, because it is quite clear that his approach to “Christianity” is one that is deeply flawed and probably dangerous for the future. As I stated above, Bosch’s work and influence had profound social and philosophical ramifications not only for a
In The Hay Wain, a beggar lies with his head cradled by a nun. What does this symbolize? Is this an attempt to express the protection and affection of the church towards the poor? This would be a legitimate and even logical interpretation. However, this painting is fraught with suggestions of corruption in church. The nun holds a baby which is assumed to be the beggars. Also, as one looks at the