Bosch Hieronymus

Bosch Hieronymus

Hieronymus Bosch

Hieronymus Bosch was a famous Dutch painter that lived from 1450 to 1516AD.   His original name was Jerome Anthoniszoon van Aken.   Scholars believe he was named after Saint Jerome.   Bosch was the fourth child of five siblings.   Bosch probably learned is painting technique from his father Antonius van Aken of Aachen Germany.   His family had a strong Dutch lifestyle and had a great passion for painting.   Antonius lived and worked in the Dutch city of Hertogenbosch near present day Belgian.   Bosch was a church cleric and became a member of the Brotherhood of Our Lady fraternity.   The Brotherhood of Our Lady was a group closely devoted to the veneration of the Virgin Mary which was well known in the late Middle Ages.   The brotherhood was made up of religious men and women.   A famous miracle working image of the Virgin could be seen in the church of St. John.   The brotherhood and painted several altarpieces for the Cathedral of St. John’s in Hertogenbosch.   It was a very wealthy organization that contributed to Bosch’s religion and cultural life.   Only seven of his paintings are signed although none of them are dated.   It is now believed that approximately 25 to 30 unsigned paintings are his, although previously it was thought that more were his paintings.   He married a middle class women named Aleid van de Meerenne around 1481.   Little is known about their marriage except they had no children and most likely lived a happy life of religious freedom.
We know very little about Bosch’s artistic background.   It is assumed that Bosch was trained by his father and one of his uncles.   Unfortunately all of their paintings have been lost.   All but a few of Bosch’s paintings were destroyed or damaged to the point of non existence.   The Dutch artist have many common qualities with Bosch’s early paintings.   The Dutch’s paintings were deeply felt and expressive interpretations of biblical narratives(20 Gibson).   His paintings told elaborate stories...