Week 12: Molly: The Garden of Earthly Delights

I think Bosch's triptych is very interesting. On the left panel is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They enjoy a natural relationship with nature. Adam sits on the green grass and the animals carry on around him without disturbing him. In the central panel, human relationships to animals and human relationships to nature descend into chaos. I think it is a massive orgy. As people experience more pleasure and delight (as the title suggests) men and women descend into the raw, animalistic natural world. I think the right panel depicts hell. People are punished for their sins and receive the consequences for their actions. I think it can be read from left to right as humans are formed in God's grace in Eden, then turn away from God toward pleasure on earth, and finally end in hell as punishment. It may have served as a warning for people to turn back to God in order to prevent yourself from going to hell.