The rage in Spain
Madrid mounts a once-in-a-lifetime Bosch exhibition
WHEN the renowne artist Hieronymus Bosch asse away 500 years ago in the little dutch town of ’s-Hertogenbosch, he left behin a groun breaking ortfolio — with intricate scenes of monstrous figures oing the wackiest things — that continue to ins ire isci les an er lex ex erts to this ay.
Ma ri ’s Prado Museum, home to several of Bosch’s famous ieces, inclu ing his master iece, “The Gar en of Earthly delights,” is aying res ects to the artist this summer with “Bosch: The 5th Centenary Exhibition,” the first time that so many of his works have been shown together, an likely the last time they ever will again.
With 21 original aintings an eight original rawings ( lus ieces from ainters of his school an other artists of his ay), the pra o show inclu es more than three-quarters of Bosch’s surviving catalog.
That’s more than even his hometown’s museum, the Noor brabants, was able to muster with its quincentennial exhibition earlier this year.
So just how is it that the S anish ca ital became home to so much of the work of this early dutch master? Thank phili II, S ain’s art-loving 16th-century king, who snatche u as many Bosches as he coul for his rivate collection — which eventually, along with the rest of the massive S anish royal art hoar , rovi - e the basis for the pra o Museum when it o ene in 1819.
The pra o is one of Ma ri ’s to tourist attractions, an the gran ame of the city’s so-calle gol en triangle of art that stra les the tree-line boulevar of paseo el pra o an inclu es the also-worthwhile Thyssen
Bornemisza an the Reina Sofía Museum.
Atten ance at the once-ina-lifetime Bosch show (which runs through Se t. 11) has been heavy, as interna- tional crow s angle to get close to mesmerizing works by the artist, whose wil ly over-the-to creatures earne him the contem orary nickname ”the evil maker.” His ownright frightening style has even cause historians to s eculate that he may have been un er the influence of syche elic rugs. (Most agree that he robably wasn’t, but merely use his extremely vivi imagination to warn late me ieval Christians of sin’s beastly angers.)
Bosch’s large an beautifully restore tri tych, “The Gar en of Earthly delights,” with its elaborate an brightly colorful visions of ara ise, earth an hell, is the star of the show. It’s ins ire a tan em installation calle “Infinite Gar en” (a mission is about $18 uring the Bosch exhibition; museodelprado.es).