Bosch. The 5th Centenary
Museo del Prado is presenting the exhibition that marks the 5th centenary of the death of Jheronimus Bosch (on display until 11 September 2016), representing an unrepeatable opportunity to see a remarkable group of works comprising the eight original paintings by the artist to be found in Spain together with others loaned from collections and museums around the world. This represents the greatest number of Bosch’s works ever to be assembled, created by one of the most enigmatic and influential artists of the Renaissance. As such, the exhibition will encourage visitors to look deeper into his personal vision of the world through the spectacular installation in which Bosch’s most important triptychs are shown free-standing in order for both the fronts and backs to be visible.
El Jardin de las Delicias
Bosch. The 5th Centenary Exhibition focuses on the artist’s original works and is divided into seven sections. The first, “Bosch and ’s-Hertogenbosch”, locates visitors in the city where the artist lived throughout his life. Given the monographic character of this exhibition and due to the difficulty of establishing a chronology for Bosch’s works, his output has been divided into six thematic sections: The Childhood and Ministry of Christ; The Saints; From Paradise to Hell; The Garden of Earthly Delights; The World and Men: Mortal Sins and non-religious works; and The Passion of Christ.
Las Tentaciones de San Antonio
The exhibition also includes works produced in Bosch’s studio or by followers from now lost originals. Another group, which includes paintings, miniatures, engravings by Alart du Hameel, reliefs by Adrien van Wesel and the manuscript of the Comentario de la pintura by Felipe de Guevara, allows for a better understanding of the context in which Bosch produced his works, the personality of some of his patrons, such as Engelbert II of Nassau, and the status of painting in the 16th century.
In addition, the Museo del Prado, which is a pioneer in the technical study of Bosch’s painting, has re-analysed his works using the most advanced scientific methods. Visitors to the exhibition can see the results of these studies in the infra-red reflectograph and the X-radiograph of The Garden of Earthly Delights, which reveal the creative process behind the work and show the surprising changes that Bosch made between the start of the under-drawing and the completion of the pictorial surface. The results of this research into Bosch’s work at the Prado, led by Pilar Silva, have been included in the accompanying catalogue, which also has contributions by leading experts on the artist such as Eric de Bruyn, Paul Vandenbroeck, Larry Silver, Reindert Falkenburg and Fernando Checa.
Extraccion de La Piedra de la Locura
Finally, as part of the complete and extensive programme of activities organised in conjunction with the exhibition, from 4 July, Room C of the Museum will have an audio-visual space entitled Infinite Garden, specially created by the artist Álvaro Perdices and the filmmaker Andrés Sanz.
In the light of the anticipated interest in this event, the Prado will be remaining open later for the exhibition (two hours more a day from Fridays to Sundays) and advance purchase of tickets is recommended.
Bosch. The 5th Centenary at Museo del Prado until September 11, 2016. Madrid, Spain
