Week 12: Jill: The Garden of Earthly Delights

Created by Hieronymus Bosch, the triptych entitled "The Garden of Earthly Delights" tells the artist's negative opinion of Earth's and mankind's history. The story starts when the triptych is closed. Together, the two panels depict Earth upon creation - or at least before God has created humans and animals to live on it. Earth is empty except for vegetation, and, overall, the colors are very bland (especially when compared to the triptych's inside). There is a small figure in the upper left corner which is probably meant to be God himself. Once the triptych is opened, three different panels, each chronologically telling of a different time, are visible. The first panel (on the left) shows the moment when Eve is presented to Adam by God. This represents the period before humanity has given into temptation and sin. At this time, Earth is probably in the season of spring or summer. The colors are bright, and the atmosphere seems peaceful and serene. All of the beings are happy and/or taking part in the circle of life. The next panel (the larger center piece) is painted in the same colors, but, at once, one can tell that the mood is quite different. There is much crowding and what looks like chaos. The scene is not just full of humans and animals but many fanciful beings and objects (Ex: larger than life fruits and animals). Men and women, without shame, are cavorting wildly and engaging in different types of sexual acts together. They also look to be taking advantage of the surrounding animals by riding and crawling on them. This panel represents giving in to Earth's temptations. The last panel (on the right) is very different from the two panels to its left, symbolically and visually. Dark and dreary, this panel represents the repercussion of man's sins: eternal damnation, or Hell. Among many other images, we see demons, infernos, torture, corpses. Overall, the scene communicates man's agony and shame. All of the panels put together, we see peace in the beginning before the Original Sin, chaos and decadence in the middle when man has given in to temptation, and, after this temporary delight, the painful consequences towards the end. Serving a purpose. Bosch's triptych, then and now, acts as a deterrent against sinful behavior.