Hieronymus Bosch, a Netherlandish painter known for his interpretations of hell, death, sin and foolishness through symbolism, created The Garden of Earthly Delights around 1505.
Our book only shows the middle panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights but it is really a triptych, a painting consisting of three panels, one square, middle panel and a left and right rectangular panel. It is painted in oil on wood and is 220 x 389 cm. If the painting is interpreted from left to right in chronological order, it seems as if it is an educational warning on the dangers of life’s temptations.
The left panel depicts the moment when God presents Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden. God is raising his right hand to give their union is blessing. The scene includes rabbits, a symbol of fertility and the ability to reproduce, and a dragon tree, which represents eternal life. Historian Virginia Tuttle describes this scene as “highly unconventional and cannot be depicted in Western art.” And many critics believe there is a lustful tone to this panel. Adam’s gaze, Eve’s suggestive body, and phallic symbols such as a snake and a mouse give a sexual hint to viewers.
The middle panel is known for its intricate use of symbolism. Critics either believe it is a moral warning or a lost paradise. It depicts an expansive garden crowded with male and female nudes, featuring blacks, whites, animals, fruits, and plants of all varieties. Magical creatures and real people mingle among over-sized fruits and succumb to the pleasures available to them. Those who argue it is paradise see the couples behaving without indignity, innocently enjoying a wide range of activities. The eroticism could be considered as an symbol of humanity or a land of corruption. Some of the figures are covered in light brown hair, this could be a symbol of these men and women being savages or representing primitive man. It makes the viewer wonder if they are committing sin or acting on their primal instincts and carnal lust.
In theory, this panel represents what would have been had Adam and Eve not been driven out of the Garden of Eden.
The right panel illustrates Hell, a common setting Bosch depicts in his works of art. This panel is much harsher compared to the panels before it filled with fire, demons, torture chambers, and war. Eroticism is gone and some of the figures now try to cover their nudeness while others are shown vomiting and excreting. People are suffering the consequences of their sins.
The Garden of Earthly Delights is important to this era because during the Middle Ages, lust was seen as a man’s weakness and the most foul of the seven deadly sins. Art historian Ludwig von Baldass once wrote that Bosch shows “how sin came into the world through the Creation of Even, how fleshly lusts spread over the entire earth, promoting all the Deadly Sins, and how this necessarily leads straight to Hell.” This piece definitely has religious context in relation to Adam and Eve, the Seven Deadly Sins, damnation to Hell, and the Christian symbolism included.
When I first saw the piece I thought maybe Bosch was sarcastic towards to belief of lust and its correlation to going to Hell because of how over the top the middle and right panel are. It’s still uncertain to people whether or not the center panel is paradise or a disgusting land filled with sin but this opinion lies in the eyes of the viewer. I think whether or not Adam and Eve were forced out of the Garden of Eden, our world would be filled with sexuality and lust. If damnation is where we’re headed for our carnal instincts, shouldn’t we enjoy the forbidden fruit while we still can?
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