Hieronymus Bosch is a Dutch painter of the late Middle Ages. He died in 1516. His work is known for its use of fantastic, now-viewed as horrific, imagery to illustrate moral and religious concepts and narratives of the Roman Catholic church during that time. Balancing the images of hell and tormented sinners are the bucolic, delicate, and detailed landscapes he painted on the back of his triptychs typically created for display and use in churchs. Bosch was not a prolific artist. Only 30 to 40 of his works survive today. In total, he signed only 7 paintings. His style inspired such envy and desire, and his works were frequently copied, imitated, and the common subject of fraud — most of it in his own time. Bosch was quite fortunate to be financially comfortable during his lifetime due to the popularity of his paintings and drawings. Art historians consider Bosch’s paintings as directional for the much later work of many of the Surrealists, especially Salvador Dali. The greatest collector of Hieronymus Bosch paintings was King Philip II of Spain, which explains why many of his paintings still reside in Spain.
