On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P02823
- Author
- Bosch, Hieronymus
- Title
- The Garden of Earthly Delights
- Chronology
- 1500 - 1505
- Technique
- Oil
- Support
- Wooden Panel
- Measures
- 220 cm x 389 cm
- School
- Flemish
- Theme
- Allegory. Moral
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- DEPOSITO
- Procedence
- Patrimonio Nacional
The open triptych shows three
scenes. The left panel is dedicated
to Paradise, with the creation of
Eve and the fountain of life, while
the right panel shows hell. The
central panel gives its name to the
entire piece, representing a garden
of life’s delights or pleasures.
Between paradise and hell, these
delights are nothing more than
allusions to sin, showing humankind
dedicated to diverse worldly
pleasures. There are clear and
strongly erotic representations of
lust, along with others, whose
meanings are more enigmatic. The
fleeting beauty of flowers and the
sweetness of fruit transmit a
message of fragility and the
ephemeral character of happiness
and enjoyment. This seems to be
corroborated by certain groups,
such as the couple enclosed in a
crystal ball on the left, which
probably alludes to the popular
Flemish saying: “happiness is like
glass, it soon breaks.”
Closed, the triptych offers a
grisaille view of the third day of
the creation of the World, with God
the Father as Creator. The two
doors bear inscriptions reading:
“He himself said it, and all was
done” and “He himself ordered it
and all was created.”
This moralizing work is one of
Bosch’s most enigmatic, complex and
beautiful creations and was made
near the end of his life. It was
acquired at the auction of Prior
don Fernando, the illegitimate son
of the Duke of Alba, and was taken
to El Escorial in 1593.
It was deposited in the Prado
Museum by Patrimonio Nacional in
1939.
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