At Bosch’s feet

5 April 2024 - 550th Aniversary

Although almost nothing is known regarding the artist’s life, the date of 5 April 1474 is the first reference to Jheronimus Bosch’s existence, when he is referred to as a witness for his sister in the sale of the mortgage on a house in the small town of Geffen (The Netherlands). At that date the artist was around 24, the legal age for acting independently in a notarial document.

“Jheronimus Bosch Day” begins at the museum with a live video inspired the dancer Eduardo Guerrero to create “At Bosch’s feet”: a universe of forms, volumes and movements.

The birth date of Bosch

There are still many gaps in the biography of Jheronimus Bosch. We do not know, for example, where his parents were living when he was born, nor is there any certainty as to the year of his birth, generally thought to be around 1450. The earliest reference to Bosch dates from 5 April 1474, when, with his father Anthonius and his brothers Goessen and Jan, he witnessed his sister Katharina’s sale of the mortgage on a house in the village of Geffen. Since he figures alongside his father, Anthonius van Aken, it has been suggested that Bosch may not yet have turned twenty-four, the minimum legal age for independently signing a deed in‘s-Hertogenbosch.

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Interactive on the work and life of Bosch

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More about Bosch

Exhibition Bosch. The 5th Centenary Exhibition In 2016, the Prado Museum presented an exhibition commemorating the 500th anniversary of Bosch's death. It was an unrepeatable occasion to enjoy the extraordinary group of eight paintings by his hand that were preserved in Spain, alongside excellent works from collections and museums worldwide.

Room 56 A. Villanueva Building Bosch Gallery Shortly after the exhibition Bosch. The 5th Centenary Exhibition, the room dedicated to Bosch was unveiled with a new layout and a radical overhaul from a technical standpoint.

Imagen de un fotograma de Memoria audiovisual

Project Audiovisual Memory This documentary collection recovers the image of the Prado Museum over the past 100 years through more than 400 digitized documents, documented, and in some cases, restored to preserve and disseminate the audiovisual memory of the Institution.

Videos Conferences, activities, and social media Bosch is one of the artists present and studied at the Prado Museum, generating a large amount of audiovisual material, both on social media and in activities organized by the Museum itself.