For the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch, his hometown of Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands honored the artist with an exhibition that gathered almost all his masterpieces. One important exception that did not travel to the exhibition was “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” the triptych in which the Netherlandish master showed what he considered to be the decadence of a world surrendered to passing pleasures, flanked on the one side by Eden, and on the other by the torments of Hell.
To see this painting in person, you must visit it in the Museo Del Prado, in Madrid. But if El Prado seems distant, the Dutch National Radio has prepared a virtual tour — guided or not, it’s the user’s choice — around this masterpiece. To visit the Garden, simply click here.
We should warn you that the sounds accompanying the stroll through Hades may be disturbing to some. Also, some of the contents of the triptych – both the carnal excesses of the central panel and the torments of Hell as Bosch nightmarishly depicts them — might be a bit too raw for some sensibilities.
And today we celebrate...