Very few pieces of the work of this great Rennaissance Flemish artist have survived down the centuries.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact Sheet: Who was Hieronymus Bosch? The following short biography and fact sheet provides interesting facts about the life, times and history of Hieronymus Bosch, the famous Dutch Renaissance Artist.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact File: Lifespan: 1450 – 1516 *** Full Name: Hieronymus Bosch *** Place of Birth: Holland *** Family background: His father was Anthonius van Aken *** Education: Hieronymus Bosch began his artistic education with the help of an uncle *** Hieronymus Bosch died on August 9, 1516

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 1: Name: He was born Jerome van Aeken but the pseudonym he adopted was Hieronymus Bosch, also spelled Jheronimus Bos. His unusual name derives from his birthplace, 's-Hertogenbosch, which is commonly called "Den Bosch" meaning 'the forest'.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 2: Date and Place of Birth. He was born in 1450 in 's-Hertogenbosch, a city and municipality in the southern Netherlands. Due to the lack of accurate records at this time his exact date of birth and birthday is unknown.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 3: Family – He had a number of uncles, his father Anthonius van Aken and was one of five sons. Also in the municipal records is an account of Bosch mentioned with two brothers and a sister. There is also a record of his marriage to a woman of wealth.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 4: Background and Early Life – It is believed one of these uncles tutored Hieronymus to paint.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 5: Work – His work is most recognised for the fantastic imagery. He used great detail in his landscapes, illustrations and narratives of religious and moral concepts.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 6: Hieronymus Bosch was a pessimistic man and stern moralist who had little faith the kindness of people and had no illusions about the rationality of human nature which he believed had become corrupted.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 7: His mysterious paintings have been likened to visual sermons but are so difficult to interpret that many believed the complex symbols and abstract concepts Bosch used derived from the occult.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 8: Others believe that Bosch’s art was inspired by heretical points of view such as the ideas of the Cathars, a medieval European Christian sect accused of heresy. And an obscure sect of dissenters called the Adamites who professed to have regained Adam's primeval innocence

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 9: The earliest paintings of Hieronymus Bosch included The Adoration of the Magi, The Cure of Folly, Crucifixion,
The Seven Deadly Sins, The Marriage at Cana, Ecce Homo, and
The Conjurer. These paintings all had the theme of the temptation of evil.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 10: The Conjurer was painted in 1502 and depicts a Conjurer's game of cups and balls showing how his foolish 'victims' are fooled by lack of alertness and insight. The mysterious conjurer appears again in Bosch's Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 11: He went on to create his great panoramic triptychs (panel paintings that are divided into three sections). His triptychs included the Hay Wain, The Temptation of St. Anthony, and the Garden of Earthly Delights. The painting of the Hay Wain contains a complex mixture of fantasy and reality

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 12: The triptychs depict monstrous fantasies containing apocalyptic scenes of nightmare and chaos which are contrasted with idyllic
portrayals of mankind in the age of innocence. They also feature hellish landscapes that are inhabited by hundreds of tiny beings

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 13: In one of the first known accounts of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, the Spaniard Felipe de Guevara wrote in 1560 that Bosch was regarded merely as "the inventor of monsters and chimeras". A chimera was a a fire-breathing mythical creature in Greek mythology with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 14: In the later years of his life his style radically changed to feature dramatic close-ups of images and generally depicted calmer, more peaceful scenes. His work in this period included The Crowning with Thorns and the Carrying of the Cross.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 15: Hieronymus Bosch went on to create reflective pictures of saints in repose or contemplation. These works included
St. John the Evangelist in Patmos and St. Jerome in Prayer.

Hieronymus Bosch Fact 16: Death – There is a record in the accounts of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of his death on August 9th of 1516 followed by a funeral mass in his memory at the Church of St John.

In the year of his death he was acclaimed an 'Insignis pictor' meaning a "distinguished painter". His dark, pessimistic and fantastical style influenced other Renaissance artists including Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Hieronymus Bosch is most famous for the Garden of Earthly Delights an oil on oak panels currently housed in Museo del Prado in Madrid.

List of Famous Works by Hieronymus Bosch: *** Adoration of the Magi *** The Cure of Folly *** Crucifixion *** The Seven Deadly Sins *** The Marriage at Cana *** Ecce Homo *** The Conjurer *** Hay Wain *** The Temptation of St. Anthony *** Garden of Earthly Delights *** The Crowning with Thorns *** Carrying of the Cross *** St. John the Evangelist in Patmos *** St. Jerome in Prayer