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Hieronymus Bosch, Saint Christopher, and the Renaissance

 Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child Through a Sinful World (c. 1520)

One huge component of Renaissance era painting and culture was religion (in most of Europe, Christianity in particular). And while I didn't manage to get any pieces pertaining to the English Renaissance per se, I did manage to find a painting by a follower of celebrated 14th-15th century Dutch painter, Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 - 1516), whose themes exhibited in his and his follower's works transcend many nations of the European Renaissance, including England.

The European Renaissance is known for its Christian symbolism, certainly exhibited in many of Bosch and his follower's works, including arguably Bosch's most famous work, The Garden of Earthly Delights. These paintings, however, typically take the form of Christ's crucifixion or Saint Mary with the infant Christ, and are rarely so abstract as that with Bosch and his followers, with this particular painting showing Saint Christopher carrying Christ through a land of demons, drunks, murderers, and monsters, with burning villages in the background.

Bosch and his followers are striking to me because they manage to be some of the most creative artists in already such a creative period. Their use of disturbing imagery, fantastical representations of familiar things, and distinctive bold color palette make them some of my personal favorite painters. They certainly manage to do something unique with concepts so many Renaissance painters have used.






Comments

  1. AndrewOctober 11, 2016 at 4:44 PM

    Great post Connor! Your post was so thorough and I really enjoyed reading it. I think that some of the images in this painting reflected problems in society at the time.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 11, 2016 at 5:12 PM

    Your choice was pretty interesting, considering it was from the European Renaissance. I also liked how you focused on religion, which was really important during that period, and that you said he is one of your personal favorite painters. In overall, it was a really good post!

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  3. Xander BergeronOctober 12, 2016 at 9:32 AM

    This is a great peace of art. I see why you choose it. You have represented this peace very well to.

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  4. Elias HanOctober 12, 2016 at 4:28 PM

    I do agree with what you say about religion and how it was important and I like how you looked outside of the box for different art forms instead of just poetry. Excellent work.

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  5. AnonymousOctober 12, 2016 at 5:00 PM

    I think you're right about how the artist very creatively depicted a theme so popular during the time.

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  6. AnonymousOctober 12, 2016 at 5:01 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. AnonymousOctober 12, 2016 at 5:43 PM

    I really enjoy the originality of this painting considering how traditional paintings regarding Christianity were at the time, why do you think he made this choice? Good work!

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  8. Zoey WeinsteinOctober 12, 2016 at 8:15 PM

    Nice job Connor! I think this post gave a good breakdown of how art reflected society at the time. I really enjoyed the personal element of him being one of your favorite painters.

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  9. AnonymousOctober 13, 2016 at 4:12 PM

    You mentioned that Bosch's most famous work was The Garden of Earthly Delights. After looking at this painting, even though it presents the religious themes that you've described so well, the style of this painting almost seems like a contemporary version of typical Renaissance paintings. Do you see this too, and if so why do you think Bosch chose to paint the The Garden of Earthly Delights this way?

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  10. Francesc045October 13, 2016 at 5:16 PM

    This painter has such a unique style, The Garden of Earthly Delights as well as this painting, truly portray that. I also appreciate how vibrant and energetic the two of them are.

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  11. Maria ZorrillaOctober 13, 2016 at 7:32 PM

    Connor, I had never read anything written by you, but I was very impressed with the way your words and sentences flow (just like in real life.) I find it very interesting the way you pictured that painting, and I like how you related what was going on in the renaissance era to the painting. Nice job!!

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  12. Maria ZorrillaOctober 13, 2016 at 7:33 PM

    I also have to agree with Francesco and say that this painter had a very unique way of seeing his society what he painted. I very much like it.

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  13. HunterOctober 13, 2016 at 7:59 PM

    There were a couple places where the grammar made things a little hard to follow for me, like the use of the word "transcend", but besides that this post was very in-depth and did a good job of connecting the piece to the era. Also, thanks for introducing us all to this very unique and interesting Renassaince Era artist.

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  14. Connor PhelpsOctober 14, 2016 at 10:09 AM

    I also think that is abstract. You wrote it very well and have a lot of info.

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousOctober 14, 2016 at 4:55 PM

    Good job! You had a lot of good information, and I appreciated how you talked about imagery in the painting and in the poetry, and how the imagery made you think about the poem. I think that is a very interesting thought. Nice!

    ReplyDelete

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