Excellent, engaging, thought-provoking analysis . I have watched a number of videos on Bosch, but I have never viewed one that was so well thought out and researched. Fascinating insights. I highly agree with the points you made which go beyond current views, especially the repetition and juxtaposition of themes between the three panels. The Garden of Earthly Delights is truly a masterpiece by a genius.
Thank you most kindly! I really appreciate that! In spending so much time starting at this masterpiece (over 30 hours) I have really come to appreciate the unique genius of Bosch’s creative vision. Such a mind for symbolism!!! Thank you for your kind words!
@@CreativeCodex lol-provides me with great amusement, I am amuse myself the most, thank God I am hilarious. are you on Instagram? And if so, how do I find you?
wow i feel so lucky to live in a generation where information like this - extremely well articulated, researched and produced - is available FOR FREE for everyone. thank you for making this !!!
@@kristinahodnekvamgrostl4622 Dawww, you’re making me blush. Cheers and thanks for that. Much more is available on my podcast of the same name! Just search Creative Codex in ant podcast app or Spotify! You’ll dig it.
Thanks so very much Joe! Much appreciated! Thank you for giving it your time. Please share the show with someone who you think will dig it-every little bit helps!
Hermetic masterpiece! There is so much esoteric gold in here it is impossible not to be enamoured by Bosch's brilliant exposure of mystic school secrets in supreme colours and textures ...he is a genius 👨🏼🎨✨
When I was a kid in the 80s I asked for a print of this painting that I’d seen at this poster store in the mall. My very Catholic Mom didn’t think twice and that poster hung on my bedroom wall, next to my bed for years. I didn’t even see the demonic imagery until I was about 15, and I took the poster down because I was rebelling against all religion. Before that, I only saw frolicking humans and animals in greenery. And perhaps positive religious imagery. I have now come 180 and realize that Bosch was a man of his time, just like I was a person of my time, and simply responding to how the images reflected my own reality. Thank you for allowing me to rethink this amazing artwork.
@@goodgrief888 That’s an impressive turnaround! Credit to you for being open to these changing tides inside of you. It also speaks to the perfect artwork that Bosch created, in how it grows with you.
@@andreasalcedo2149 Thanks so much for that! Much appreciated. I do many more of these kinds of deep dives on the podcast version of the show, just look up Creative Codex on Spotify or elsewhere. 🌞🙏
"Afforded him the luxury of being weird". I studied art history but it was English. I haven't heard much aout Bosch or this painting. Very interesting and thank you for posting!
I have been wishing, wanting . . Waiting since the age of 12 for this video. Ever since first seeing this painting in an encyclopedia when I was 12 I have been extremely fascinated with Bosch and especially this masterpiece triptych. This video and interpretation was fantastic and I just want to thank you. I could literally talk about this painting for days.
@@chrisd6287 Haha thank you Chris! I love that you had such a meaningful connection with the original painting. Something about this artwork continues to mystify people centuries later in such a beautiful way. In the process of trying to make sense of it, Bosch’s Garden became one of my favorite paintings too!
that is exactly the kind of documentary I love to watch, thoughtful, deep, intense. calmly presented facts, no hectic editing. thank you so much! subscribed!
@@jnachname331 Thank you so very much! I’m honored to know the work has these associations for you. Multiple months of research and study of the painting went into the creation of this analysis. Thank you!
After months of research on this painting, this video is the only media I've come across that has given me clear and perfectly packaged insight on one of my favourite artists of all time. Thank you.
It's so comforting knowing that such an amazing artist could live nice life, the myth of tortured artist is really tiring. This is a great research and one of the best videos I've seen so far!
@@CreativeCodex Wow, hi! Your analysis is brilliant, to the point where it's cannon for me now. I am slowly absorbing this video before I move on to the next, but I most definitely will. Thank you so much for this video series! I would love to hear your thoughts with other great art - but if you just did all the Bosch paintings in detail like this, my life would be complete.
@@adrianblack608 Haha thank you! If you dig these kind of deep dives, I have way more episodes on the main podcast feed (on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc). Where I cover everything from Emily Dickinson to Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks.
Wonderful video, thank you. I am deeply captivated by The Garden of Earthly Delights and have devoured a lot of interpretation and analysis of it, coming to my own conclusions about what it means (both to me and what I think it meant to Bosch). Some your insights and observation are so wonderful and eye-opening for me, it is sparking my passion/obsession for this work all over again. They have sparked new ideas in me for possibilities for some of the elements in this work which have consistently puzzled and intrigued me. My partner wants to visit relatives in Spain next year (a long way from where we live) and I have insisted we take a few days in Madrid so I can go to del Prado and see The Garden of Earthly Delights in person. I can't really explain how much I am looking forward to that and I'm even more excited after watching this.
Thanks so much! I’ve stared at this triptych for over thirty hours and it still feels like it holds more to discover. It’s truly a perfect work of art in that regard! I also have a Prado visit on my bucket list. I hope you get the chance to go and stand in front of The Garden for as long as you wish. 😄
Thank you for exploring the symbolism of this painting. This is one of my favorite european paintings, and i was attributing Bosch's genius to visionary inspiration. I now have an entirely different layer of appreciation for this work, and i am deeply grateful for your earnest exploration of its depths.
@@djmaura Wow! Such high praise! Many thanks for that. 🙏🌞🙏 You might also love the podcast as well, I do equally deep dives on many other creative geniuses and their works (Emily Dickinson, Frida Kahlo, Nikola Tesla, etc.) Just search Creative Codex in Spotify!
Great analysis! A couple of observations: A little color interpretation: Gold is God the creator, Pink is the Divine, Blue is the natural world, Red is lust or temptation, and black is Sin. --In panel 1, notice how the animals fighting the shadow figures in the foreground are all gold? Gold suggests god is protecting the world from sin and darkness --I think the man in the central panel holding the woman's wrist aggressively is Adam with Eve--she is touching him gently with the hand Jesus held and he is holding her wrist like Jesus held her's, and he is looking at us just like Jesus did in Panel 1; I think this could be interpreted as Man is the embodiment of Jesus in the present (but he painted it like man has corrupted the gentle act in panel 1) --The woman and man in the cracked clear globe in the central panel - I think the globe represents the protection of marriage, he has his hand on her stomach insinuating she is pregnant. The blue flower is connected to the globe meaning they are following the natural while the globe sits on the pink fleshy sphere with the man inside--this is her unborn child looking out the glass tube (uterus) with the black rat (sin) waiting as soon as he emerges--likely a reference to original sin or natural sin that no one can escape according to Christianity. --In the first panel, pink jesus and pink tower are very far away from the blue natural world, in the second panel the natural world (blue) and the Divine world coexist, in the third panelthere is very little pink / blue and it all appears to be corrupted. -In the foreground -The blue fish eating the gold fish with the black rabbit on the fish a reference to enlightened thinking with the natural world literally swallowing god and men carrying it forward on horseback. As I revisited the image with this bit of color theory and it really expanded the interpretation from your insights. Thanks again for the great video!
This is my favourite artwork ever, among some pieces by Beksinski as well. But nothing ever tops The Garden of Earthly Delights. Thank you for this amazing analysis ❤
This was a wonderful analysis. Well paced, supported evidence, great editing and great voice over. It feels like I’m in a museum, seeing the painting for the first time. Thank you!
Excellent analysis. Keep it up 👍 I would like to point out two things that might help in the analysis. First is regarding the "fish with platypus head" This is not a platypus head, but a spoonbill head. Platypuses were first discovered in 1798 in Australia. The other is does two birds that are standing on top of the pink boar with blue balls. You referred to them as cranes, but I am certain that those are storks and they are depicted performing mating dance. They swing their heads back in this characteristic way during the mating dance and clap their beaks. Now, I don't know what spoonbill and stork mean in Bosch's symbology, but I hope that this might help you be more accurate in the analysis.
Wow! That was excellent. A flood of views and subscribers is coming your way as people discover this channel. Your hard work will pay off. Very excited to see the next installment!
I appreciate that good sir! Bosch’s work is such an endlessly fascinating topic, I hope this in depth series does it some justice. And thank you for watching!
Absolutely fascinating. We had this painting in a collection of art prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I was a child. I used to stare at it for hours, wondering what it all meant. I would ask my parents, and they tried to explain their thoughts regarding the symbolism, but this art study was so through, I finally have some answers. Thank you.
42:05 i think the owl represents knowledge! it makes sense that he would first appear gazing at adam (who ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, motivated by his desire for eve we see depicted in the left panel). additionally, i like the fact that the “rockface” that the tree sprouts from is surrounded literally by good and evil, being crafted out of one and then influenced by the other crawling into its ear. you touched on that theme of the rockface representing humanity in that way, and i think that ties in beautifully with the motif of Knowledge being present throughout the piece
I remember seeing this artwork somewhere and finding it so disturbingly intriguing. Never have I ever cared to look deeper into it, but I’m so happy I came across this video to finally explain things.
Workshop excellent presentation. Beautifully illustrated. I learnt more about Bosch here than from all the books that I had read all this time. Thank you.
oh my goodness, what a wonderful piece of work this is. i so appreciate your research, effort, and insight on this piece. i hope you get the recognition you deserve!!
Haha thanks for that my friend! I will endeavor to post it this month. It will be newly edited, if you don’t mind viewing the old edit of Part 2 head over to Spotify, it’s available there in video format on my podcast of the same name: Creative Codex. 🤓
@CreativeCodex I will wait patiently for the UA-cam offering. I can cast it to my TV, which is what I did today. The art became so much richer. Thank you so much for your fabulous work you share on UA-cam!!
Even as a kid I was mesmerized by the expression of the "hollow man" as his head was turned. I could not and still cannot discern what it is. But strangely I know it somehow as a nuance or brush of something in Life but I still don't know what the expression is.
@@skiing43degreesnorth Nice catch! This confused me too. Apparently there is a predecessor to backgammon called trictrac, which was in France. There was also a Spanish equivalent. The earliest known writings mentioning it are in the 1630’s, and they mention that the origins of the game are unknown. Crazy how old some of our games and cards are! An even more mysterious and distant history follows the Tarot!
@@CreativeCodex I read a book in the 90s that said backgammon was invented in either Egypt, Iran, or turkey (they were specific, I just don't remember) at least 1000 BC (again, the book was more specific) Also to note, "French" playing cards are supposedly derived from "Bavarian" which are derived from Tarock/Tarot. Which, seems highly plausible. But the official dates are off. So many old paintings show French card suits long before Bavarian are supposed to exist. I'm still bummed that "Bavarian" cards are so hard to get, and you can't get a 52 card deck. And, nobody anywhere sells cards with a Knave in stead of a Jack.
This is amazing. The planal deconstruction made this much easier to comprehend. I am a pedant, here are my unsolicited notes (both pts): spoonbill not platypus, blackberry not grapes, bolt not arrow.
Excellent video, so much thought and study has gone into this and most of the interpretation is convincing. At 54 mins you refer to the fruit a bird is feeding to the grey men as grapes, giving it a symbolic role, however I don’t think they are grapes it looks much more like a single blackberry than a bunch of grapes. I’d always seen it as a blackberry and was a little surprised at the “grape”attribution here.
"Adam's lust" is a bit of a jump to a conclusion. To me, he simply seems delighted by her view. The observation regarding the "shadow creatures" is really keen.
@@everybot-it Right, I hear ya. He isn’t exactly ‘pitching a tent’ as they say. Though if If Bosch took it to that level, this painting would have been destroyed within 20 years after his death.
@@CreativeCodex most likely. Is there anything objective to say about Adam's "intention / desire"? He doesn't appear to be looking at her body. He's looking aither at her face or god's hand gesture.
in the first panel the fountain, the hole for the owl in the middle, and the surrounding water almost looks like a half-closed eye; maybe the owl being the iris=the eyes are another opening for evil/sin similar to the ear (like how adam seeing/looking at eve creates his lust)??? idk
I was thinking, Christ is not so much seen as a fish as Christians are. This is because Jesus Christ multiplied the loaves of bread and the fish to feed the people. An owl is often seen as evil in Jewish lore. In many interpretations of the Bible it is referred to as “the Lilith” and is compared to Lilith herself.
@@MFLimited Yes, I definitely was aware of the Lilith association at the time of producing this. But I’m not entirely sold that it would have been significant for Bosch, as Lilith wasn’t commonly spoken about in that time period and as far as we know Bosch wasn’t part of a secret society that mentioned Lilith in any way. But to complicate the matter, in Bosch’s Haywain, the first panel shows someone tempting Eve who looks an awful lot like Lilith!
This is a collage just like we might might do today. A sheet of birds, a sheet of people, one of owls, flowers, fruit.. Cut out, stick it on regarding size and relationships
@@bglvaupel It does occasionally have that feel to it, some free association potentially going on. But on the other hand, based on studying Bosch’s other paintings, I respect his mastery of symbolism too highly-he is always deliberate, never wasteful or impulsive in his associations. In that regard, I suspect that because there are no surviving journals explaining Bosch’s intentions, we are left to our own devices, missing the inherent logic of the imagery.
Bravo! Did you know that bird and making love was the same word in Deutsch? That’s the origin when you give someone the middle finger you ‘flip them the bird.’ Helps explain the bird obsession in Bosch’s language.
Whaaaaaat? How have I never come across this insight before?! That’s fascinating. There may be something to that as a visual pun-as to why there is the proliferation of birds in the central panel but not the others.
@@CreativeCodex yes! Vogelen is the double entendre word. Bird and intercourse. It may help with the interpretation of the birds feeding the people, too.
Thanks for this in depth analysis😊 One small thought: i always assumed Eve is not floating, but kneeling on the slope of a not very well visible hill on which Adam sits and God is standing.
You did an AMAZING job. This is one of my fav works of art and I’ve watched tons of videos on it, and this is such a well thought out and detailed video. Def gained a sub with this one! Can’t wait to watch more of your videos ❤️
@@jadeamodio82 Thanks so much! Much appreciated. 🙏🌞🙏 If you dig the depth of the videos be sure checkout the respective podcast. This episode was originally for the podcast (as a video episode). We cover A LOT more creative geniuses on the main show, doing a series currently on William Blake. I think you’ll love it. It’s on Spotify as well as other podcast platforms: open.spotify.com/show/7IIv6uXWqQM3qyhzyKBluT?si=pFDpx4ldSSWlt-fBWpNOdw
@@onefeather2 Thanks very much! It’s been a passion project for sure to understand this masterpiece. Be sure to check out Part 2 all about the third panel! Hell!
Love your content. Could you consider making an episode about the difference between electronic music and live instrument music, the different effects on the brain?
Thanks so much! Hmm, that’s an intriguing topic. Perhaps if I can tie it in with something I’m discussing on the main show (in the podcast) I’ll keep it in mind!
incredible video, i would like to add my interpretation of the blue flowers. oftentimes blue was seen as the “female color” and i wonder if bosch was commenting on sex/gender
@@CreativeCodex I’m unsure if it is regional. When I took art history it was mentioned that blue was seen the “female” color because the Virgin Mary was often depicted in blue. I’m not sure if this is true for the Netherlands, but it seemed to be common in Catholic areas from what we discussed in my classes.
@@arcadacameron381 good stuff, and it does remind me of some Leonardo da Vinci paintings that show the Virgin in blue such as Virgin of the Rocks which is one of my favorites.
I have collections of books about all the greats ... Ruben's, Caravaggio, van Eyck, Rembrandt, Titian, Vermeer, Michaelangelo, van Gogh, Dali, and so on.... none capture my imagination quite like Bosch.... it's as if Dali were fused with van Eyck, but composed by Dante Alighieri ... Taschen has a great large folio size book of his works, I highly recommend this book.
Yessss! I just saw that while doing research recently! In one of McQueen’s final interviews he is asked who are his favorite artists and his first response is Hieronymus Bosch. 🥲
Heironymous Bosch is my favorite artist of all time ❤ Goya is my Second, most incredible art. I love the religious themes and darkness in both their artworks
Thanks very much! I was stunned by the depth of Bosch’s symbolism. Will be posting the Part 2 video that focuses exclusively on the Hell panel this month!
@@Giza107 Thanks very much! That Hell panel is filled with some mind bending stuff. I believe it’s the most inspired depiction of Hell any artist has ever achieved.
@@CreativeCodex this is incredible do you know when part 2 will be released? im presenting this triptych 4 a class and am eagerly awaiting part 2, btw im using ur video as one of my sources! thank you for your work!!
@@dudeduderino2872 Excellent! Happy to help. Thanks very much. Funny you should ask: I am planning on releasing Part 2 this coming week, either Wednesday or Thursday. I’ll announce it more officially soon, so subscribe if you’d like to get the update!
I can't wait for the next episode! Brilliant insights and beautiful presentation. He's easily my favorite painter. Thank you for teaching me so much I never knew. 😇❤️
Thanks Zachary! Bosch quickly became one of my favorites as well as I was doing the research for this series. And his genius is so perfectly embodied in the Garden triptych!
I have seen more than a couple videos on Bosch and articles, his contemporaries did not think he was crazy or as the opening minutes of the video purport. He was painting what many people of his time thought hell and demons were like.
me and my friends went to an art exhibit at our local college and they had a copy of this up, we spent a good 20 minutes just staring at this painting trying to decipher what was going on in it lol
A good, thought-provoking analysis and video on one of my favorite artist pieces/artists. Personally, I see the predatory nature of the men "herding" and trapping the women in the middle panel...most especially considering the recent US elections (and the subsequent "your body, my choice" energy going on). What I think Bosch is showing us is that lust is what opens humans up to all manner of "cardinal sins" which turns us away from the "heavenly virtues." You are onto something in noticing the vast majority of figures being male. I wonder how many of those 500+ you counted are such?
ive always suspected it could be that all the humans are actually still just Adam and Eve, repeated and doing all the things that they were up to in Eden??
I like that interpretation too! Certainly tracks with the lack of violence or aggression in the central panel. It’s so interesting how NOT having Bosch’s own intentions at hand makes this work even more engaging. Especially for how it stands out amongst the traditional work in the triptych tradition. Oddly enough, if we had some of his journals explaining what he meant by it, we would be less inclined to ‘figure it out’ right?
I wonder if Bosch's depiction of the 7 deadly sins in that cool circular painting he did would help prove that the middle panel is sinful. Comparing his clear and unmistakable depictions of sin in that painting with some of these scenes could... bear fruit. Heh.
@@nardoritardeau2291 ooo yes, good point. I think looking at the work in context of the other paintings he did which have survived we can certainly see someone who is very likely a Christian, though perhaps, a bit of a progressive as artists often are.
Really enjoying your analysis. Very Thought Provoking to read it "horizontally". Reminded me of how many read Dante's Divine Comedy vertically...thus, like you, compare the same number Cantos in the three sections of the poem - Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Both appeal to my analytical mind.🙏🏽 Also, have you considered that Eve looks ambivalent (to a being/man who is starting at her and probably making her uncomfortable)? What if it's not just lust, but Coercive lust that opens men to what xtians call sin...as a pagan, i would call it Causing Unnecessary Harm to Another Soul for Self-Serving Reasons (and possibly justifying it with false piety/morality).
I worked a long time ago on the decoding of this painting with a Spanish group, called Exposing the Truth, I leave the link so you can check it. This video is the only one that has decoded the cognitive process of reality, and I was surprised by some things that I had never seen before. We saw in the painting, like in the first part and second part it is still the garden of Eden but in a different process, but there are things that he does not mention, I don't know if he didn't see it or he just left it aside.. One is the Birds = they represent the ethereal souls that in the first painting go through the sun and later in the feminine and masculine aspects incarnating on the earth, then, the birds are souls that in the second panel interact with the human, as beings or reptilians controlling and sickening The humanity .. Another thing, the unicorns, which represent the the jenetic lineage of the Royal Families, under the moon, and THE 11 to align with Adam or Eve and thus be able to manifest at this frequency and the Water that represents the dimensions or the points of view of consciousness or thought, so when the girls are on re water halfway , and something of my work that I was surprised that this video mentioned is THE Rabbit = that if it is white It represents the truth and the black represents what is a lie... like Trinity's tattoo in the Matrix, the Rat is also a misinformer like those on history channel and all those space programs... and other things, but this is the first video which represents the cognitive processes of reality to control the energy lines that cross the earth. but there is much more to this painting when you see it in ultraviolet light
Rats/mice in the ancient world often symbolised the soul. Examples of this myth/belief can be found in the Mabinogion, The Pied Piper of Hamlin, Apollo, started out as a Miller's Mouse.
@@CreativeCodex The Robert Graves book: The White Goddess is a very useful source of ancient thought and symbolism, it is an interesting read, leading one down many rabbit holes. Thank you for your work(s)
@@Ordinz We will likely never know if he took anything. I think we will have to content ourselves with the more encouraging alternative: that Bosch was a creative visionary. Drugs are unnecessary when you have a weird mind to start. 🤓
1:02:14 I just noticed, doesn’t the kneeling man’s right arm look a bit transparent? I wonder if Bosch repainted that particular area at some point… Btw, absolutely amazing video. I have been thoroughly enjoying it! 😁
Ooo good catch! Yes, so the wild card in all of this is how has restoration of the work over the last three hundred years or so possibly altered it? Perhaps all the figures would be transparent now without restoration? Or maybe something was added somewhere. I find a certain hand suspicious in this light which occurs in the water pool on the left side in mid-foreground. It is the hand of the woman being restrained by the man, it seems to be on the man’s back, but it is very transparent.
Bosch had an important and wealthy client and admirer : Philips II; king of Spain. So Bosch painted what the King wanted and thus the biggest Bosch collection is in Spain. We now patch labels on everything that is different. But I think, with good reason, that Bosch was highly respected in his home town. So take off your 21st century glasses and look at what it is ; masterpieces of paintings. You might not know, but there was the Bruegel family of painters as well.
53:53 I think that's a blackberry, not a bunch of grapes, based on the cap and the leaves. Both fruits have a ton of lore, but blackberries (aka bramble) have some pretty weird associations. I don't know if they date back to Bosch, but both the Burning Bush and the Crown of Thorns have been theorized to be bramble. Conversely there are legends that Lucifer fell into a bramble, or that the devil cursed them. Possibly of relevance to the Garden, it was used as a remedy for snake bites in ye olden times. Again, I have no idea if these stores were even around yet when this was painted, or in mainland Europe, but it's possible ... Thank you for this super interesting analysis- I have never heard some of these interpretations which is lovely, so often it's just people repeating something they saw in another video ad infinitum with no actual contribution. I particularly like the idea of the pools linking the panels, and the 'animals' seeping between them. Peace!
One more thing, dragon, blood, it is representation of the plumed serpent. Important link that is missing is a spiritual, psychological, philosophical, symbolic, metaphoric, and allegoric link
One more thing, dragon, blood, it is representation of the plumed serpent. Important link that is missing is a spiritual, psychological, philosophical, symbolic, metaphoric, and allegoric link Eves blood, I believe, and it goes along with the red rope, and it stands for the feminine. Or the root chakra as well they have to climb back up to heaven symbolically.
Hmmmm I wonder about the owl. I think it could represent evil/witchcraft perhaps? It's around the time of painting this that the malleus maleficarum was written and published IIRC. and with that strixology (study/knowledge on the dangers etc of strixes (strega/striga, a word for witch and some type of demon bird, not uncommonly depicted as owls) became more renown. as for the crescent moon, I'm not sure. perhaps a connotation to the moongoddess? or just to the dark night in general? Anyway, many thanks for this interesting video! did point out some tidbits about this painting that I had previously not seen. I'll now be off to pt 2!
@@vorinay6212 Hi there. All the music is my own original work, I write new music for each episode of my podcast (the same name as this channel, Creative Codex.) I wrote two new guitar pieces for the Bosch series, that ending theme is one of them. I believe I titled it Garden of Earthly Delights. I haven’t released it yet online or separately, but I will be sure to include it in the Volume II soundtrack of Creative Codex! Volume I is on Bandcamp here: mjdorian.bandcamp.com
@13:57 the text underneath Bosch name reads ‘zeer vermaerd schilder’….if I read this correctly. In modern Dutch this would translate as ‘very famous painter’ 😄 Isn’t it wonderful to see something like that?
52:18 Interesting interpretation as a whole, but somethings as impulses or self control are 19th century concepts that would be very strange to a 16th century man like Bosch.
"Take something psychological and represent it on a visual stage..." So... he chose to illustrate his insanity. He has done some facinating paintings. I've seen many of them. In my opinion he was a disturbed and often angry man, with a wry sense of humor, who was a great painter.
Insane? Not more than other people of his time. I was told that in northern Europe, the grains often contaminated with a certain fungus ( zearalenon), which caused hallucinations. Maybe Bosch was consuming alot of it, maybe he was particularly sensitive to it, maybe everyone run around with such images at the time.
@@CreativeCodex watched the video last night and really enjoyed it. I had a lot of similar interpretations, mainly about the pink towers being kind of yonic and sexual looking and there being corruption in the garden of eden. I always saw the middle panel as showing humans sucumbing to animalistic desire and revelling in sin, seeming fun at first but leading them to damnation. So yeah i had a lot of similar ideas, just without the background knowledge of the culture at the time and all that
Excellent, engaging, thought-provoking analysis . I have watched a number of videos on Bosch, but I have never viewed one that was so well thought out and researched. Fascinating insights. I highly agree with the points you made which go beyond current views, especially the repetition and juxtaposition of themes between the three panels. The Garden of Earthly Delights is truly a masterpiece by a genius.
Thank you most kindly! I really appreciate that! In spending so much time starting at this masterpiece (over 30 hours) I have really come to appreciate the unique genius of Bosch’s creative vision. Such a mind for symbolism!!! Thank you for your kind words!
@@CreativeCodex lol-provides me with great amusement, I am amuse myself the most, thank God I am hilarious.
are you on Instagram? And if so, how do I find you?
wow i feel so lucky to live in a generation where information like this - extremely well articulated, researched and produced - is available FOR FREE for everyone. thank you for making this !!!
@@kristinahodnekvamgrostl4622 Dawww, you’re making me blush. Cheers and thanks for that. Much more is available on my podcast of the same name! Just search Creative Codex in ant podcast app or Spotify! You’ll dig it.
This channel should have a million subscribers. Excellent content and unique production style.
Thanks so very much Joe! Much appreciated! Thank you for giving it your time. Please share the show with someone who you think will dig it-every little bit helps!
Seriously, I couldn't agree more.
Hermetic masterpiece! There is so much esoteric gold in here it is impossible not to be
enamoured by Bosch's brilliant exposure of mystic school secrets in supreme colours
and textures ...he is a genius 👨🏼🎨✨
I saw a Bosch exposition a few years ago in Den Bosch. It was the most impressive museum visit of my life.
One of my favorite episodes, I love being able to see what you talking about with the visuals. Such a great artist 🖤
Thanks Jeffrey! I appreciate that. And yes, with Bosch’s Garden you really have to see it to believe it. Just a perfect work of art!
When I was a kid in the 80s I asked for a print of this painting that I’d seen at this poster store in the mall. My very Catholic Mom didn’t think twice and that poster hung on my bedroom wall, next to my bed for years. I didn’t even see the demonic imagery until I was about 15, and I took the poster down because I was rebelling against all religion. Before that, I only saw frolicking humans and animals in greenery. And perhaps positive religious imagery. I have now come 180 and realize that Bosch was a man of his time, just like I was a person of my time, and simply responding to how the images reflected my own reality. Thank you for allowing me to rethink this amazing artwork.
@@goodgrief888 That’s an impressive turnaround! Credit to you for being open to these changing tides inside of you. It also speaks to the perfect artwork that Bosch created, in how it grows with you.
This might be one of the best analysis videos I have ever seen
@@andreasalcedo2149 Thanks so much for that! Much appreciated. I do many more of these kinds of deep dives on the podcast version of the show, just look up Creative Codex on Spotify or elsewhere. 🌞🙏
"Afforded him the luxury of being weird". I studied art history but it was English. I haven't heard much aout Bosch or this painting. Very interesting and thank you for posting!
I have been wishing, wanting . . Waiting since the age of 12 for this video. Ever since first seeing this painting in an encyclopedia when I was 12 I have been extremely fascinated with Bosch and especially this masterpiece triptych. This video and interpretation was fantastic and I just want to thank you. I could literally talk about this painting for days.
@@chrisd6287 Haha thank you Chris! I love that you had such a meaningful connection with the original painting. Something about this artwork continues to mystify people centuries later in such a beautiful way. In the process of trying to make sense of it, Bosch’s Garden became one of my favorite paintings too!
that is exactly the kind of documentary I love to watch, thoughtful, deep, intense. calmly presented facts, no hectic editing. thank you so much!
subscribed!
@@jnachname331 Thank you so very much! I’m honored to know the work has these associations for you. Multiple months of research and study of the painting went into the creation of this analysis. Thank you!
After months of research on this painting, this video is the only media I've come across that has given me clear and perfectly packaged insight on one of my favourite artists of all time. Thank you.
It's so comforting knowing that such an amazing artist could live nice life, the myth of tortured artist is really tiring. This is a great research and one of the best videos I've seen so far!
@@DioShiver Yes! And to achieve a status of being upper middle class too! You’re right, it is refreshing. Thanks!
"The owls are not what they seem" ...mind blown.
@@adrianblack608 Haha, they never are! And thanks very much! Hope you check out the followup which focuses entirely on Bosch’s Hell panel too!
@@CreativeCodex Wow, hi! Your analysis is brilliant, to the point where it's cannon for me now. I am slowly absorbing this video before I move on to the next, but I most definitely will. Thank you so much for this video series! I would love to hear your thoughts with other great art - but if you just did all the Bosch paintings in detail like this, my life would be complete.
@@adrianblack608 Haha thank you! If you dig these kind of deep dives, I have way more episodes on the main podcast feed (on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc). Where I cover everything from Emily Dickinson to Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks.
Wonderful video, thank you. I am deeply captivated by The Garden of Earthly Delights and have devoured a lot of interpretation and analysis of it, coming to my own conclusions about what it means (both to me and what I think it meant to Bosch). Some your insights and observation are so wonderful and eye-opening for me, it is sparking my passion/obsession for this work all over again. They have sparked new ideas in me for possibilities for some of the elements in this work which have consistently puzzled and intrigued me.
My partner wants to visit relatives in Spain next year (a long way from where we live) and I have insisted we take a few days in Madrid so I can go to del Prado and see The Garden of Earthly Delights in person. I can't really explain how much I am looking forward to that and I'm even more excited after watching this.
Thanks so much! I’ve stared at this triptych for over thirty hours and it still feels like it holds more to discover. It’s truly a perfect work of art in that regard! I also have a Prado visit on my bucket list. I hope you get the chance to go and stand in front of The Garden for as long as you wish. 😄
Thank you for exploring the symbolism of this painting. This is one of my favorite european paintings, and i was attributing Bosch's genius to visionary inspiration. I now have an entirely different layer of appreciation for this work, and i am deeply grateful for your earnest exploration of its depths.
this was absolutely the best video i’ve watched in my whole life. this deserves a million views
@@djmaura Wow! Such high praise! Many thanks for that. 🙏🌞🙏 You might also love the podcast as well, I do equally deep dives on many other creative geniuses and their works (Emily Dickinson, Frida Kahlo, Nikola Tesla, etc.) Just search Creative Codex in Spotify!
Great analysis! A couple of observations:
A little color interpretation: Gold is God the creator, Pink is the Divine, Blue is the natural world, Red is lust or temptation, and black is Sin.
--In panel 1, notice how the animals fighting the shadow figures in the foreground are all gold? Gold suggests god is protecting the world from sin and darkness
--I think the man in the central panel holding the woman's wrist aggressively is Adam with Eve--she is touching him gently with the hand Jesus held and he is holding her wrist like Jesus held her's, and he is looking at us just like Jesus did in Panel 1; I think this could be interpreted as Man is the embodiment of Jesus in the present (but he painted it like man has corrupted the gentle act in panel 1)
--The woman and man in the cracked clear globe in the central panel - I think the globe represents the protection of marriage, he has his hand on her stomach insinuating she is pregnant. The blue flower is connected to the globe meaning they are following the natural while the globe sits on the pink fleshy sphere with the man inside--this is her unborn child looking out the glass tube (uterus) with the black rat (sin) waiting as soon as he emerges--likely a reference to original sin or natural sin that no one can escape according to Christianity.
--In the first panel, pink jesus and pink tower are very far away from the blue natural world, in the second panel the natural world (blue) and the Divine world coexist, in the third panelthere is very little pink / blue and it all appears to be corrupted.
-In the foreground
-The blue fish eating the gold fish with the black rabbit on the fish a reference to enlightened thinking with the natural world literally swallowing god and men carrying it forward on horseback.
As I revisited the image with this bit of color theory and it really expanded the interpretation from your insights. Thanks again for the great video!
This is my favourite artwork ever, among some pieces by Beksinski as well. But nothing ever tops The Garden of Earthly Delights. Thank you for this amazing analysis ❤
@@bunzoteric I love it too. And thanks so much for giving it some of your time and attention!
This was a wonderful analysis. Well paced, supported evidence, great editing and great voice over. It feels like I’m in a museum, seeing the painting for the first time. Thank you!
@@Maggie-v5y I appreciate that a lot! Thank you so much for that high praise! 🙏🌞🙏
The best video about this paint in the entire UA-cam!! I have watched countless, but you went deep into the explanation. I love it!
The music is amazing, you're so talented!
@@karolynemuniz4054 I appreciate that! Thanks so much. Creating music for the show is one of the most fulfilling parts of the work.
Excellent analysis. Keep it up 👍
I would like to point out two things that might help in the analysis. First is regarding the "fish with platypus head" This is not a platypus head, but a spoonbill head. Platypuses were first discovered in 1798 in Australia.
The other is does two birds that are standing on top of the pink boar with blue balls. You referred to them as cranes, but I am certain that those are storks and they are depicted performing mating dance. They swing their heads back in this characteristic way during the mating dance and clap their beaks.
Now, I don't know what spoonbill and stork mean in Bosch's symbology, but I hope that this might help you be more accurate in the analysis.
Wow! That was excellent. A flood of views and subscribers is coming your way as people discover this channel. Your hard work will pay off. Very excited to see the next installment!
I appreciate that good sir! Bosch’s work is such an endlessly fascinating topic, I hope this in depth series does it some justice. And thank you for watching!
Absolutely fascinating. We had this painting in a collection of art prints from the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I was a child.
I used to stare at it for hours, wondering what it all meant. I would ask my parents, and they tried to explain their thoughts regarding the symbolism, but this art study was so through, I finally have some answers. Thank you.
@@carolkristian1146 Thank you for that! It’s amazing how many ways one can interpret it!
42:05 i think the owl represents knowledge! it makes sense that he would first appear gazing at adam (who ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, motivated by his desire for eve we see depicted in the left panel). additionally, i like the fact that the “rockface” that the tree sprouts from is surrounded literally by good and evil, being crafted out of one and then influenced by the other crawling into its ear. you touched on that theme of the rockface representing humanity in that way, and i think that ties in beautifully with the motif of Knowledge being present throughout the piece
@@steviebea Great point! Good observations and reflections. That rockface still just floors me, so ahead of his time.
I remember seeing this artwork somewhere and finding it so disturbingly intriguing. Never have I ever cared to look deeper into it, but I’m so happy I came across this video to finally explain things.
I thank you very much for your fascinating and carefully crafted essay . There is nothing like that
Workshop excellent presentation. Beautifully illustrated. I learnt more about Bosch here than from all the books that I had read all this time. Thank you.
I appreciate that! Thanks so much! Do check out the Hell Panel episode I released as well! Things only get stranger and more thoughtful from here!
Amazing art nalysis, tight narration, AND a great original score all done by the SAME GUY. DAMN.
Already the most pleasant and intelligent talks on art I’ve ever watched and I’m only 15 minutes in! Wow!
@@bradleymcmurray2309 Haha, I appreciate that! Hope the rest lives up to that expectation!
oh my goodness, what a wonderful piece of work this is. i so appreciate your research, effort, and insight on this piece. i hope you get the recognition you deserve!!
@@steviebea Thank you most kindly! It’s on its way. I’ve been working on the podcast for six years, it has been steadily growing every year. 🙏🌞🙏
Looking forward to part 2. I thought it was already published, but, I watched through part 1 once again. Twice amazing!
Haha thanks for that my friend! I will endeavor to post it this month. It will be newly edited, if you don’t mind viewing the old edit of Part 2 head over to Spotify, it’s available there in video format on my podcast of the same name: Creative Codex. 🤓
@CreativeCodex I will wait patiently for the UA-cam offering. I can cast it to my TV, which is what I did today. The art became so much richer. Thank you so much for your fabulous work you share on UA-cam!!
In Dutch, Bosch is pronounced as "boss" in English.
Even as a kid I was mesmerized by the expression of the "hollow man" as his head was turned. I could not and still cannot discern what it is. But strangely I know it somehow as a nuance or brush of something in Life but I still don't know what the expression is.
@@qwertyu30 Yes! I know exactly what you mean. It is this touch of the unknowable and sublime that makes art so endlessly interesting!
This video is so good, I was glued. I gasped more than once.
@@katyfae6806 haha no way. What caused the gasp? And thank you!
@@CreativeCodexAnytime you would point out something I hadn’t noticed yet and it would make the lightbulb click!
Excellent , I think your analysis makes sense, particularly the message of the colors.
I like the backgammon board that wasn't supposedly invented for another two hundred years.
@@skiing43degreesnorth Nice catch! This confused me too. Apparently there is a predecessor to backgammon called trictrac, which was in France. There was also a Spanish equivalent. The earliest known writings mentioning it are in the 1630’s, and they mention that the origins of the game are unknown. Crazy how old some of our games and cards are! An even more mysterious and distant history follows the Tarot!
@@CreativeCodex I read a book in the 90s that said backgammon was invented in either Egypt, Iran, or turkey (they were specific, I just don't remember) at least 1000 BC (again, the book was more specific)
Also to note, "French" playing cards are supposedly derived from "Bavarian" which are derived from Tarock/Tarot. Which, seems highly plausible. But the official dates are off. So many old paintings show French card suits long before Bavarian are supposed to exist. I'm still bummed that "Bavarian" cards are so hard to get, and you can't get a 52 card deck. And, nobody anywhere sells cards with a Knave in stead of a Jack.
Man, backgammon is believes to have been invented 5000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. What are you talking about?
@@CreativeCodex you might search The History of Backgammon by Alexandra Llewellyn. They believe the game is 5000 years old now.
@@CreativeCodex now i’m getting a headache 😭
What a brilliant analysis! Loved watching
@@donnyb2277 Thank you for giving it your time!!
This is amazing. The planal deconstruction made this much easier to comprehend. I am a pedant, here are my unsolicited notes (both pts): spoonbill not platypus, blackberry not grapes, bolt not arrow.
@@SonofPlonky Thanks very much! I think your notes are valid too! Some of them sure do look like blackberries.
@@CreativeCodex this painting and your insights have been in my brain all week. I think a net positive but a strange one.
@@SonofPlonky Haha, nice! Well then some good has come from the work! 🎶🧠🎶
Excellent video, so much thought and study has gone into this and most of the interpretation is convincing. At 54 mins you refer to the fruit a bird is feeding to the grey men as grapes, giving it a symbolic role, however I don’t think they are grapes it looks much more like a single blackberry than a bunch of grapes. I’d always seen it as a blackberry and was a little surprised at the “grape”attribution here.
can't wait for part 2!
Thanks so much! Working on making it extra special. 🌞
This is a great art class and this paint is a wonderful thing
"Adam's lust" is a bit of a jump to a conclusion. To me, he simply seems delighted by her view.
The observation regarding the "shadow creatures" is really keen.
@@everybot-it Right, I hear ya. He isn’t exactly ‘pitching a tent’ as they say. Though if If Bosch took it to that level, this painting would have been destroyed within 20 years after his death.
@@CreativeCodex most likely. Is there anything objective to say about Adam's "intention / desire"? He doesn't appear to be looking at her body. He's looking aither at her face or god's hand gesture.
in the first panel the fountain, the hole for the owl in the middle, and the surrounding water almost looks like a half-closed eye; maybe the owl being the iris=the eyes are another opening for evil/sin similar to the ear (like how adam seeing/looking at eve creates his lust)??? idk
@@_bree6869 Oooo yeah, that’s a fun reflection too! Thanks for that.
I was thinking, Christ is not so much seen as a fish as Christians are. This is because Jesus Christ multiplied the loaves of bread and the fish to feed the people. An owl is often seen as evil in Jewish lore. In many interpretations of the Bible it is referred to as “the Lilith” and is compared to Lilith herself.
@@MFLimited Yes, I definitely was aware of the Lilith association at the time of producing this. But I’m not entirely sold that it would have been significant for Bosch, as Lilith wasn’t commonly spoken about in that time period and as far as we know Bosch wasn’t part of a secret society that mentioned Lilith in any way. But to complicate the matter, in Bosch’s Haywain, the first panel shows someone tempting Eve who looks an awful lot like Lilith!
This is a collage just like we might might do today. A sheet of birds, a sheet of people, one of owls, flowers, fruit.. Cut out, stick it on regarding size and relationships
@@bglvaupel It does occasionally have that feel to it, some free association potentially going on. But on the other hand, based on studying Bosch’s other paintings, I respect his mastery of symbolism too highly-he is always deliberate, never wasteful or impulsive in his associations. In that regard, I suspect that because there are no surviving journals explaining Bosch’s intentions, we are left to our own devices, missing the inherent logic of the imagery.
Bravo! Did you know that bird and making love was the same word in Deutsch? That’s the origin when you give someone the middle finger you ‘flip them the bird.’ Helps explain the bird obsession in Bosch’s language.
Whaaaaaat? How have I never come across this insight before?! That’s fascinating. There may be something to that as a visual pun-as to why there is the proliferation of birds in the central panel but not the others.
@@CreativeCodex yes! Vogelen is the double entendre word. Bird and intercourse. It may help with the interpretation of the birds feeding the people, too.
Fascinating!
Thanks for this in depth analysis😊
One small thought: i always assumed Eve is not floating, but kneeling on the slope of a not very well visible hill on which Adam sits and God is standing.
You did an AMAZING job. This is one of my fav works of art and I’ve watched tons of videos on it, and this is such a well thought out and detailed video. Def gained a sub with this one! Can’t wait to watch more of your videos ❤️
@@jadeamodio82 Thanks so much! Much appreciated. 🙏🌞🙏 If you dig the depth of the videos be sure checkout the respective podcast. This episode was originally for the podcast (as a video episode). We cover A LOT more creative geniuses on the main show, doing a series currently on William Blake. I think you’ll love it. It’s on Spotify as well as other podcast platforms: open.spotify.com/show/7IIv6uXWqQM3qyhzyKBluT?si=pFDpx4ldSSWlt-fBWpNOdw
Wow, I think you are right in what you explained about what is going on, very well done.
@@onefeather2 Thanks very much! It’s been a passion project for sure to understand this masterpiece. Be sure to check out Part 2 all about the third panel! Hell!
Love your content. Could you consider making an episode about the difference between electronic music and live instrument music, the different effects on the brain?
Thanks so much! Hmm, that’s an intriguing topic. Perhaps if I can tie it in with something I’m discussing on the main show (in the podcast) I’ll keep it in mind!
You see his picture in a lot of alchemy text. OK I’m settling into listen I love his work.Syzygy
I LOVE Boshes WORK!
Well, my life would definitely fall more into the third panel.
@@rindenauge3426 Sorry to hear that! Hopefully you make it out of there and like the Hell panel, at least I hope you have some stories to tell.
This is an awesome video, keep up the good work
This is my new favorite art piece!!! So cool, thank you
incredible video, i would like to add my interpretation of the blue flowers. oftentimes blue was seen as the “female color” and i wonder if bosch was commenting on sex/gender
@@arcadacameron381 Thanks very much! I didn’t know that about blue. Was this a regional custom in the Netherlands?
@@CreativeCodex I’m unsure if it is regional. When I took art history it was mentioned that blue was seen the “female” color because the Virgin Mary was often depicted in blue. I’m not sure if this is true for the Netherlands, but it seemed to be common in Catholic areas from what we discussed in my classes.
@@arcadacameron381 good stuff, and it does remind me of some Leonardo da Vinci paintings that show the Virgin in blue such as Virgin of the Rocks which is one of my favorites.
I have collections of books about all the greats ... Ruben's, Caravaggio, van Eyck, Rembrandt, Titian, Vermeer, Michaelangelo, van Gogh, Dali, and so on.... none capture my imagination quite like Bosch.... it's as if Dali were fused with van Eyck, but composed by Dante Alighieri ... Taschen has a great large folio size book of his works, I highly recommend this book.
I totally agree! The Garden triptych truly is a perfect work of art!!!
McQueen's a/w '10 collection includes garments featuring the hell panel !
Yessss! I just saw that while doing research recently! In one of McQueen’s final interviews he is asked who are his favorite artists and his first response is Hieronymus Bosch. 🥲
I so appreciate the timeline comparison to Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci.
@@valerieladeda Absolutely! It’s wild to imagine them working at the same time!
Heironymous Bosch is my favorite artist of all time ❤ Goya is my Second, most incredible art.
I love the religious themes and darkness in both their artworks
Add Dali to that list and you have my faves. 🧐
Best video about Bosch what i ever watched! Thanks.
Thanks very much! I was stunned by the depth of Bosch’s symbolism. Will be posting the Part 2 video that focuses exclusively on the Hell panel this month!
@@CreativeCodex Eagerly waiting for the part 2 video 😍
@@Giza107 Thanks very much! That Hell panel is filled with some mind bending stuff. I believe it’s the most inspired depiction of Hell any artist has ever achieved.
@@CreativeCodex this is incredible do you know when part 2 will be released? im presenting this triptych 4 a class and am eagerly awaiting part 2, btw im using ur video as one of my sources! thank you for your work!!
@@dudeduderino2872 Excellent! Happy to help. Thanks very much. Funny you should ask: I am planning on releasing Part 2 this coming week, either Wednesday or Thursday. I’ll announce it more officially soon, so subscribe if you’d like to get the update!
I can't wait for the next episode! Brilliant insights and beautiful presentation. He's easily my favorite painter. Thank you for teaching me so much I never knew. 😇❤️
Thanks Zachary! Bosch quickly became one of my favorites as well as I was doing the research for this series. And his genius is so perfectly embodied in the Garden triptych!
I have seen more than a couple videos on Bosch and articles, his contemporaries did not think he was crazy or as the opening minutes of the video purport. He was painting what many people of his time thought hell and demons were like.
me and my friends went to an art exhibit at our local college and they had a copy of this up, we spent a good 20 minutes just staring at this painting trying to decipher what was going on in it lol
@@whewchile1510 Oh yeah, I can imagine! I have stared at this painting for over 30 hours now and it still mystifies me. :)
That brotherhood, then was an elite brotherhood that shared the secrets of symbolism. Especially… “Of the lady” they knew what was up.
A good, thought-provoking analysis and video on one of my favorite artist pieces/artists.
Personally, I see the predatory nature of the men "herding" and trapping the women in the middle panel...most especially considering the recent US elections (and the subsequent "your body, my choice" energy going on).
What I think Bosch is showing us is that lust is what opens humans up to all manner of "cardinal sins" which turns us away from the "heavenly virtues." You are onto something in noticing the vast majority of figures being male. I wonder how many of those 500+ you counted are such?
lovely video! 54:15 the goldfinch is also traditionally a symbol of Jesus.
I’m going to argue that he was a Christian Mystic. There is a huge difference. And he would not have been open with this.
@@sabrinaszabo9355 Yes, I think this is one of the better theories too.
ive always suspected it could be that all the humans are actually still just Adam and Eve, repeated and doing all the things that they were up to in Eden??
I like that interpretation too! Certainly tracks with the lack of violence or aggression in the central panel. It’s so interesting how NOT having Bosch’s own intentions at hand makes this work even more engaging. Especially for how it stands out amongst the traditional work in the triptych tradition. Oddly enough, if we had some of his journals explaining what he meant by it, we would be less inclined to ‘figure it out’ right?
@@CreativeCodex yes! i agree! Great work btw, thank you so much!
@@frogscotch19 Thank you! Part 2, all about the Hell panel coming this Wednesday!
@@CreativeCodex looking forward to it!
I wonder if Bosch's depiction of the 7 deadly sins in that cool circular painting he did would help prove that the middle panel is sinful. Comparing his clear and unmistakable depictions of sin in that painting with some of these scenes could... bear fruit. Heh.
@@nardoritardeau2291 ooo yes, good point. I think looking at the work in context of the other paintings he did which have survived we can certainly see someone who is very likely a Christian, though perhaps, a bit of a progressive as artists often are.
This is the painting I know the most about. So I’m going to come publicly DECLARE it-in front of all you fine citizens, as. my. favorite.
I love your content so much I’ve listened to everything on Spotify
No way! That’s a lot of hours of me babbling on about creativity! Thank you very much. Any favorites?
@@CreativeCodex the carl jung / red book series fr
Really enjoying your analysis. Very Thought Provoking to read it "horizontally". Reminded me of how many read Dante's Divine Comedy vertically...thus, like you, compare the same number Cantos in the three sections of the poem - Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Both appeal to my analytical mind.🙏🏽
Also, have you considered that Eve looks ambivalent (to a being/man who is starting at her and probably making her uncomfortable)? What if it's not just lust, but Coercive lust that opens men to what xtians call sin...as a pagan, i would call it Causing Unnecessary Harm to Another Soul for Self-Serving Reasons (and possibly justifying it with false piety/morality).
to be an artist is to tap
into the infinite, formless
The owl
could be our self awareness, we are creation observing itself in a way.
I worked a long time ago on the decoding of this painting with a Spanish group, called Exposing the Truth, I leave the link so you can check it. This video is the only one that has decoded the cognitive process of reality, and I was surprised by some things that I had never seen before. We saw in the painting, like in the first part and second part it is still the garden of Eden but in a different process, but there are things that he does not mention, I don't know if he didn't see it or he just left it aside..
One is the Birds = they represent the ethereal souls that in the first painting go through the sun and later in the feminine and masculine aspects incarnating on the earth, then, the birds are souls that in the second panel interact with the human, as beings or reptilians controlling and sickening The humanity ..
Another thing, the unicorns, which represent the the jenetic lineage of the Royal Families, under the moon, and THE 11 to align with Adam or Eve and thus be able to manifest at this frequency and the Water that represents the dimensions or the points of view of consciousness or thought, so when the girls are on re water halfway , and something of my work that I was surprised that this video mentioned is THE Rabbit = that if it is white It represents the truth and the black represents what is a lie... like Trinity's tattoo in the Matrix, the Rat is also a misinformer like those on history channel and all those space programs... and other things, but this is the first video which represents the cognitive processes of reality to control the energy lines that cross the earth. but there is much more to this painting when you see it in ultraviolet light
Interesting, I would be curious to watch it. Do you have the link to the video?
@@CreativeCodex yes , but its all in spanish. ua-cam.com/video/MVUTNV2QFA0/v-deo.htmlsi=61YJYOGKDqprRBdJ
Rats/mice in the ancient world often symbolised the soul. Examples of this myth/belief can be found in the Mabinogion, The Pied Piper of Hamlin, Apollo, started out as a Miller's Mouse.
Very interesting! I didn’t know that. Gives me some food for thought.
@@CreativeCodex The Robert Graves book: The White Goddess is a very useful source of ancient thought and symbolism, it is an interesting read, leading one down many rabbit holes. Thank you for your work(s)
36:00 That's a spoonbill!
Kept saying the same thing haha! They wouldn't have had discovered platypuses yet lol : )
I wonder what he took? Datura stramonium?
Or perhaps Atropa Belladonna ?
These two drug plants feature in some of his paintings, perhaps a hint?
@@Ordinz We will likely never know if he took anything. I think we will have to content ourselves with the more encouraging alternative: that Bosch was a creative visionary. Drugs are unnecessary when you have a weird mind to start. 🤓
1:02:14 I just noticed, doesn’t the kneeling man’s right arm look a bit transparent? I wonder if Bosch repainted that particular area at some point…
Btw, absolutely amazing video. I have been thoroughly enjoying it! 😁
Ooo good catch! Yes, so the wild card in all of this is how has restoration of the work over the last three hundred years or so possibly altered it? Perhaps all the figures would be transparent now without restoration? Or maybe something was added somewhere. I find a certain hand suspicious in this light which occurs in the water pool on the left side in mid-foreground. It is the hand of the woman being restrained by the man, it seems to be on the man’s back, but it is very transparent.
@@CreativeCodexMostly white or mixtures containing white become more transparent in time
Bosch had an important and wealthy client and admirer : Philips II; king of Spain. So Bosch painted what the King wanted and thus the biggest Bosch collection is in Spain. We now patch labels on everything that is different. But I think, with good reason, that Bosch was highly respected in his home town. So take off your 21st century glasses and look at what it is ; masterpieces of paintings.
You might not know, but there was the Bruegel family of painters as well.
Thanks for posting
There's a lot to see here! 👀
@@lisabrightly Haha, that’s what I’m sayin’!!!
53:53 I think that's a blackberry, not a bunch of grapes, based on the cap and the leaves.
Both fruits have a ton of lore, but blackberries (aka bramble) have some pretty weird associations. I don't know if they date back to Bosch, but both the Burning Bush and the Crown of Thorns have been theorized to be bramble. Conversely there are legends that Lucifer fell into a bramble, or that the devil cursed them.
Possibly of relevance to the Garden, it was used as a remedy for snake bites in ye olden times.
Again, I have no idea if these stores were even around yet when this was painted, or in mainland Europe, but it's possible ...
Thank you for this super interesting analysis- I have never heard some of these interpretations which is lovely, so often it's just people repeating something they saw in another video ad infinitum with no actual contribution. I particularly like the idea of the pools linking the panels, and the 'animals' seeping between them.
Peace!
One more thing, dragon, blood, it is representation of the plumed serpent. Important link that is missing is a spiritual, psychological, philosophical, symbolic, metaphoric, and allegoric link
One more thing, dragon, blood, it is representation of the plumed serpent. Important link that is missing is a spiritual, psychological, philosophical, symbolic, metaphoric, and allegoric link
Eves blood, I believe, and it goes along with the red rope, and it stands for the feminine. Or the root chakra as well they have to climb back up to heaven symbolically.
Hmmmm I wonder about the owl. I think it could represent evil/witchcraft perhaps? It's around the time of painting this that the malleus maleficarum was written and published IIRC. and with that strixology (study/knowledge on the dangers etc of strixes (strega/striga, a word for witch and some type of demon bird, not uncommonly depicted as owls) became more renown. as for the crescent moon, I'm not sure. perhaps a connotation to the moongoddess? or just to the dark night in general?
Anyway, many thanks for this interesting video! did point out some tidbits about this painting that I had previously not seen. I'll now be off to pt 2!
I enjoyed this
@@remusracingro3884 Thanks very much and glad to hear that! Any favorite parts or insights?
It's nice to know he paid his employees well. Bosch was the boss.
@@WobblesandBean Haha yes, it’s nice to know he was at least a master who respected his apprentices and assistants.
Fantastic interpretation ! 😇
How is the music at the very end called?
@@vorinay6212 Hi there. All the music is my own original work, I write new music for each episode of my podcast (the same name as this channel, Creative Codex.) I wrote two new guitar pieces for the Bosch series, that ending theme is one of them. I believe I titled it Garden of Earthly Delights. I haven’t released it yet online or separately, but I will be sure to include it in the Volume II soundtrack of Creative Codex! Volume I is on Bandcamp here: mjdorian.bandcamp.com
@13:57 the text underneath Bosch name reads ‘zeer vermaerd schilder’….if I read this correctly. In modern Dutch this would translate as ‘very famous painter’ 😄 Isn’t it wonderful to see something like that?
@@Luc-uw8ur Haha, I suppose it was added in the decades after Bosch’s death?
@@CreativeCodexReally don’t know. Could be.
52:18 Interesting interpretation as a whole, but somethings as impulses or self control are 19th century concepts that would be very strange to a 16th century man like Bosch.
a master class!!! thanks.
@@penaleve9727 Cheers! And thank you for watching.
"Take something psychological and represent it on a visual stage..." So... he chose to illustrate his insanity. He has done some facinating paintings. I've seen many of them. In my opinion he was a disturbed and often angry man, with a wry sense of humor, who was a great painter.
Insane? Not more than other people of his time. I was told that in northern Europe, the grains often contaminated with a certain fungus ( zearalenon), which caused hallucinations. Maybe Bosch was consuming alot of it, maybe he was particularly sensitive to it, maybe everyone run around with such images at the time.
Just because it’s hard to understand, that doesn’t mean he was insane or drugged. It just means it’s hard for us to understand.
J'adore, indémodable, un génie
@@natnati8510 Je suis d'accord! Merci for watching!
36:46 is that a seal crawling out of hell tho?
@@finchfingers316 Appears to be! Looks cute too! 😄
I got a poster of this painting on my wall and I have my own uneducated interpretation of what much of it means, time to see how it holds up
@@evanl6819 Hey man, the beauty of it is that your interpretation is just as valid as mine or anyone else’s! Let me know what you think!
@@CreativeCodex watched the video last night and really enjoyed it. I had a lot of similar interpretations, mainly about the pink towers being kind of yonic and sexual looking and there being corruption in the garden of eden. I always saw the middle panel as showing humans sucumbing to animalistic desire and revelling in sin, seeming fun at first but leading them to damnation.
So yeah i had a lot of similar ideas, just without the background knowledge of the culture at the time and all that
@@evanl6819 Thanks for that! Really appreciate you watching it so thoughtfully. 🙏🌞🙏
Bosch liked nakedness and dinkies and hoo-hoos and balloons and nutty-wags.
@@BrianRoberson-k7g Don’t we all?