Bosch: The 5th Centenary Exhibition

Published to accompany the Prado’s blockbuster exhibition marking the quincentenary of Bosch’s death, this magnificent, richly illustrated book reproduces all the artist’s masterpieces held by the museum and many more

The Museum houses the largest known collection of works by Jheronimus Bosch. Among its holdings are The Adoration of the Magi and The Garden of Earthly Delights triptychs, as well as the original of The Haywain, making it the ‘home of Bosch’ and the perfect institution to hold a major exhibition marking the quincentenary of the artist’s death.

This magnificent book reproduces these masterpieces and other recently cleaned and restored paintings, and reveals hitherto unknown facets of Bosch’s art. A distinguished team of Bosch scholars contribute to the volume. Pilar Silva Maroto’s essay presents an updated biography of Bosch and his family, and includes all the surviving documents dating from his lifetime. It also locates the artist in the context of his home town, ’s-Hertogenbosch, and offers an in-depth appreciation of his status as a painter and draughtsman.

Eric De Bruyn considers Bosch’s sources in texts and images; Paul Vandenbroeck, his values and ideology; and Larry Silver, the sins and their punishment, a fundamental theme in the artist’s work. Finally, there is a ‘conversation’ between Reindert Falkenburg and The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych, and a reflection by Fernando Checa on the reception of Bosch at the Habsburg court in Flanders and in Spain in the 16th century. The catalogue entries for the paintings belonging to the Prado collection discuss the findings of recent technical research carried out specifically for the exhibition, which has shed new light on these works.

Pilar Silva Maroto is curator of the early Flemish art collections at the Museo del Prado.