Bosch: The Garden of Dreams

One of the world’s most famous artworks, The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych by the 16th-century Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), is celebrated in José Luis López-Linares’s documentary, which coincided with the 500th anniversary of the painter’s death. Bosch outlines the scant information available on the artist’s life, but its major emphasis is an analysis of the Garden itself, photographed lovingly in its home at the Prado in Madrid—the museum where many of Bosch’s works are to be found as a result of King Philip II of Spain’s assiduous collection efforts. Experts use modern x-ray devices to reveal the process of creation, while scholars discuss the painting’s place in art history and the meaning of the iconographic symbols that are employed in such wild profusion. They also ruminate on the work’s overall impact, both on 16th-century viewers and contemporary audiences, discussing its visionary representations of Earth, Heaven, and Hell, with all of their allegorical implications. Non-specialists, ranging from musicians as disparate as pop singer Sílvia Pérez Cruz and classical conductor William Christie to novelist Salman Rushdie, also weigh in to explain their enthusiasm for the work. Although the documentary is fairly conventional in its approach, it affords a superb introduction to a painting that has proven to be an inexhaustible source of interest to art lovers for five centuries, as well as an inspiration to painters from Brueghel to the surrealists. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)