Alchemy and Hieronymus Bosch

Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Carrasco, Magdalena

Keywords

Alchemy, Bosch, Hieronymus, Garden of Earthly Delights

Area of Concentration

Art History

Abstract

Hieronymus Bosch was a Netherlandish painter who worked in the late fifteenth century, and is an enigma to most art historians because of his obscure and complex imagery and because so little is known about his life. Recently, several scholars have attempted to view Bosch through the lens of alchemy, and this thesis uses their work as a springboard. I begin by explaining alchemy � what it is, how it has been misinterpreted historically, and how it fit within the Christian context with which Bosch would have been familiar. I then analyze five of Bosch�s paintings according to alchemical imagery and philosophy, focusing on salvation as the common thematic ground the images share with alchemy. Finally, I examine the structural operations of Bosch�s works, arguing for a correspondence between the affectivity of the works on the viewer and the effects generated by alchemical transmutation.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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