Hieronymus Bosch [Paperback]

No one can look at the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch without amazementand bewilderment. Professor Gibson shows that what seems inexplicableto us todaythe canvases full of torture, monsters, and leeringdevilswas perfectly intelligible to the fifteenth-century viewer. Thesubjects of Bosch's paintings were in fact the overwhelming concerns oflate medieval Europe: the Last Judgment, original sin, death,temptations of the flesh. The author describes each picture in detail,placing each work within the context of medieval folklore and religion,and explains that many of the acts portrayed in the pictures werevisual translations of verbal puns or metaphors.Well produced and well written...a wise and friendly exposition. An exceptional book, sensible, illuminating and readable...probably the best straightforward account of Bosch and his works which we shall have for some time.