Born in the Netherlands about 1450. Very little is known about this reclusive Dutch painter, not even exact dates of his works. The wealth of his imagination appears inexhaustible in his most famous painting ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ which shows the Lord introducing Adam and Eve; the surreal depictions surrounding them suggest that all will not be well. It has been suggested that his fantasies, which made him famous even in his own lifetime, illustrated proverbs and were readily understandable in his own day, for example the lovers in the glass sphere may embody ‘pleasure is as fragile as glass’. The erotic nature of the imagery is unmistakeable as is the satanic profusion to his creations. Much of Bosch’s work is in the Prado in Spain due to King Phillip of Spain’s patient desire to purchase Bosch’s enigmatic and strange fantasies. Died 1516, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
