From an artistic point of view, Hieronymus Bosch (Jeroen for short) the world famous brilliant forerunner of surrealism was in his day, unique and radically different. Bosch was born (ca. 1450-1516) during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, in the Duchy of Brabant, Netherlands. Bosch places visionary images in a hostile world full of mysticism, with the conviction that the human being, due to its own stupidity and sinfulness has become prey to the devil himself. He holds a mirror to the world with his cerebral irony and magical symbolism, sparing no one. Hieronymus Bosch’s style arises from the tradition of the book illuminations (manuscript illustrations from the Middle Ages).
In his most famous altar painting, Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch shows us how we mortal souls, arisen from earthly paradise, are on our way to the atrocious ordeals of hell via our unchaste lives on earth. The altar has paintings on the outside cover when it is closed in grey tones showing Creation. On the inside panels, a full view of those that will be saved, and those damned, through a fantastical exploration of demonic hybrid creatures. Whether witch turning on a oven spire, helmeted bird monster, egg bird monster, or many of the other jarring visions, Bosch uses fear as instruction so that preliterate followers will be taught to behave. Can you find the statues below in the painting above?
Each of these statue adaptations of Bosch painted figurines are designed by Parastone of The Netherlands. The company comes from Bosch’s home town in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and is very proud of one of their most famous residents. In 2016, the town celebrated the 500th anniversary of Bosch’s death with a landmark show of several dozen of his works shown together for the first time. In addition to the Bosch statues, the company produces several hundred masterpiece recreations by Dali, Klimt, Rodin, Degas, Modigliani and others as part of their Parastone 3D Mouseion Collection. Talaria Enterprises is an official distributor of the figurines in the USA.
Below is an extraordinary collection of statue adapted from Bosch’s hybrid, fantasy creatures in fully rendered three dimensions. Parastone has imagined them “in the round” adding a new presence and celebration of Bosch’s original creativity. Enjoy!
