Olivia Pantano
HUM 214
The medieval age was a time where religious fervor was considered the only way
to make it to the gates of heaven. Life was hard for people of the middle ages and many
sought sanctity in the arms of religion for hope of a better life after death. Bosch was an
active member in the early church and expressed his fears of mans eternal damnation in
most of his paintings. His most common themes were those of moral conflict and the
downfalls of humanity. In The Last Judgment, Bosch used his triptych style paintings to
clearly depict the three fates that could befall a man’s soul with the reminder that all
humans are born sinners. Through his art he sought to encourage his fellow men to live
more virtuously in order to save their souls before they were sentenced to the gates of
Hell. His art was incredibly well received and Bosch achieved great fame in his time.
Heironmymus Bosch, born Jeroen Anthonissen von Aken, was a painter from the
Netherlands who lived in the approximate years of 1450-1516. Next to nothing is known
about the personal life of this early artist; most of the information was destroyed by time.
Bosch was a very active member of the religious community. It is generally accepted
that due to the strict religious culture of his time, Bosch, through his art attempted to
teach moral and spiritual truths to other men. He often used demons and other fantastic
creatures to portray the evils of men and perhaps to scare his viewers into living more
virtuous lives. Bosch painted on triptychs, or a three paneled surface, instead of normal
canvas. There are many instances of hyperbole in the gore and violence depicted in The
Last Judgment by the use of the eccentric demonic creatures. He also elected to use
materials that were rough to the touch to preserve the human-like quality of his art. His
infatuation with human sin and moral failings was depicted in all works of art. Unlike
many other early artists, Bosch was famous in his time period and was often
commissioned to send his work overseas. Today many of his most famous works are
housed in el Museo del Prado in Madrid.
The Last Judgment is a piece that embodies the fervent religious nature common
during most of the early times. Like the rest of his works, The Last Judgment is painted
on a triptych with three distinct locations detailed in each panel. From left to right, the
panels depict the Garden of Eden, limbo with heaven above, and hell. The detail within
each panel unveils countless horrors inflicted on the human race. On the leftmost panel,
the Garden of Eden is a calm and lighthearted scene at first glance but once inspected it
shows the creation of original sin. God sits above the garden as angels wage war with
Satan below him in the clouds. Within the garden there are scenes of Eve being extracted
from Adam, followed by Eve taking the forbidden fruit from the tree. Above this, an
angel is shown chasing Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden thus forever tainting the
human race with sin. The center panel is a violent scene of dark creatures destroying
humanity. Within this scene all of the seven deadly sins are represented with gruesome
punishments inflicted on the humans that commit them. The creatures look calm as they
impose incredible harm to humanity. It serves as a reminder that hell is forever; these
heinous acts would not be a rarity. High above this terror is heaven. The people in
heaven are the only ones that are shown wearing clothes. This could be connected the
Humanist view that humanity thinks themselves higher than God and religion thus not
hiding their bodies or sins. While demonic creatures wreak havoc on the humans below,
those in heaven praise God and rejoice in their salvation remaining detached from the
humanly violence. On the rightmost panel there is no calm or heavenly depictions only
fire and brimstone smoking in the city of hell. There are scenes of the new souls crying
out in horror after they realize where they will be spending eternity. Satan sits in his
version of a throne and watches over his burning kingdom as humans are tortured. Many
of the demonic figures shown in the center panel are also present in the hell and are
painted much larger than their human counterparts. This gruesome painting goes into
great detail so show the punishments humans receive for their sins.
Bosch was a notorious pessimist; this view is incredibly evident in all of his
paintings. His strong religious views undoubtedly influenced his fears that humans might
not be able to escape their humanly sins. The Last Judgment contains many interesting
dichotomies hidden within the chaos. Satan and Christ are painted directly diagonal to
one another clearly showing the divide between good and evil. Most of the painting is
covered in gruesome images of hell and violence; Bosch was very concerned that
humanity could not break from the numerous sins that are so deeply engrained in our
beings. The punishments used for the humans that committed the seven deadly sins were
especially cruel. Humanism was a philosophy that gained popularity during his time and
was demonstrated in The Last Judgment. The human races’ lack of respect and reverence
for God and heaven in the center panel of the painting was a huge slight to the greater
power. Bosch attributes this as one of the fatal flaws that ensures most of the human race
will rot in hell after death. His view on the way that God would punish sinners was very
strict; this scare tactic could have scared people of his time into living virtuously. He
sought to spread his religious beliefs to the people around him not only through his
church group but also through art. He was fortunate enough to be successful during his
lifetime and could sell his art to other countries spreading his influence further.
The Last Judgment is a classic depiction of mans struggle between good and evil.
We as humans are born with original sin and in Bosch’s opinion, extremely prone to
behavior that our creator would not approve of. For some, there is more evidence
proving that humans are doomed to burn in hell forever because we cannot overcome our
fatal flaws. This fear is one of the overlaying themes in his art. Bosch acknowledges that
humanism may be the trait that most destroys our race. By stressing the dire need to
change our behaviors through his art Bosch tried to dissuade people from following down
the flaming path that the human nature most often takes.
Find Bosch’s The Last Judgment below:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Last_judgement_Bosch.jpg
Bibliography
"The Complete Works." Hieronymous Bosch - The Complete Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 03
Mar. 2014.