All alchemical work can be summed up in one simple phrase: Solve et Coagula, to dissolve and coagulate. The concept that something must be broken down before it can be built up again, not only in the material sense, but in spiritual as well. In that, ‘Alchemy is not merely a science to teach metallic transmutation, so much as an art that teaches us how to know the center of all things, which in the divine language is called the Spirit of Life’ (Pierre-Jean Fabre, Les Secrets Chymiques, Paris, 1636). Indeed, alchemy itself is described as Donum Dei: a gift of God.
Although alchemy in a narrow sense can be traced back to the 2nd and 3rd century C.E., Christian alchemists believe it to be much older, in that God’s act of Creation itself, was deemed an alchemical process. Having been birthed of God, and eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve were considered the first human alchemists. Their original sin not only affect souls of all mankind, but all of nature, and for this reason, alchemists aimed their work at the redemption of matter, back to a paradisiacal condition. Because of this, Christian imagery and religious language are frequently invoked in alchemical works, almost appearing in support of the claim, that alchemy is in fact, a divine sanctioned art. This paper will house a formal investigation into the religious and societal instability during late 15th and early 16th century and how the obvious Christian symbolism within the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, conceals the markers that define it as a work of an alchemical theorist.
Jeroen Anthoniszoon van Aken was born in 1450, in Hertogenbosch, a small town near Antwerp. The name for which he would become famous, Hieronymus Bosch, was a personally invented alias, created from the last syllable of his home town. Nearly all evidence of Bosch comes from the documents in the archives of the Illustrious Brotherhood of our Blessed Lady, of which he was a ‘sworn brother’. Bosch married in 1486, to an aristocratic young woman who brought him a substantial dowry and to whom he owed his rise in high society. The Brotherhood was a part of a reforming movement, which attacked ecclesiastical abuses and corruption of the clergy as energetically as it did heresy itself, which is why one interpretation of Bosch’s work is seen as the work of reform, but orthodox Catholic.
Although Hertogenbosch was a small town, it was not unaware of cultural or spiritual matters. In Bosch’s Day, it was one of the most important cities in Brabant. Existed in proximity was the College of the Brothers of the Common Life, which was founded by a disciple of Jan van Ruysbroeck, a Flemish mystic. It was here that Erasmus de Rotterdam (who rejected both Martin Luther’s doctrine of predestination and the powers that were claimed by the papacy) spent three years of his life, and undoubtedly the underground heresy of the Adamites (who believed in the universal resurrection and in the Free Spirit) secretly existed. The heretical ideologies of the Adamites also considered sin to be the work of God and therefore refused to considered it evil. It is possible that some Adamites belonged to the same brotherhood that received Bosch and German art historian, Wilhelm Fraenger (Die Hochzeit zu Kana: Ein Dokumnet semitischer Gnosis bei Hieronymus Bosch, Berlin 1950) believed that even Bosch himself, through the style of his art, could also be mistaken for an Adamite. But, the painters fantastic concepts, though encompassing a strict sense of form and composition may have been the result of a hallucination produced by a drug: a witch's ointment. Doctors used of this ‘cure’ on various ailments, and it produced in a number of subjects, hallucinations extraordinarily similar to that of Bosch’s world in The Garden of Earthly Delights. This possibility in no way removes the genius is this work, but does allow for the possibility that Bosch may have made use of this potion to stimulate his imagination, which was already stimulated by religious inspiration. Through that kind of visionary experience, the revelation of the dark aspects of human nature, may in fact enable us to approach the divine with greater awareness. Bosch is the only artist of his era who succeeded in showcasing both aspects equally.
The invention of the printing press brought into circulation inconceivable scientific and chemical doctrines and caused a lot of upset within the church. It is not entirely by chance that the Book of Visions (medieval literature about the Irish knight Tnugdalus’ infernal experience) was reprinted in the town of Hertogenbosch, in 1484. The Brotherhood of the Blessed Lady, did not confine it functions to charity and prayer, but expressed obligations to productions more or less religious in nature, but with choreography where horrific and demonic themes recurred, such as the worlds displays in Tnugdalus’ account. It is highly probable that Bosch took no small part in organized them given his eminent position within the Brethren.
It is not simple to define the cultural circles which Bosch may have been involved in however, they were undoubtedly acquainted with literature exploring magic, and omniscience and in this society, alchemy was considered an acceptable and widespread means of spiritual fulfilment. The philosophies became suspect when it adopted forms and methods of the ‘black’ arts, and shortly after Innocent the 8th, issued the Bull Summis Desiderantes Affectibus (1484) the accord for the “correcting, imprisoning, punishing and chastising” such persons “according to their deserts”. Only 3 years later, it was followed up by the infamous Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches). Could this be why there is no literature regarding The Garden of Earthly Delights? Did fear of prosecution play a role in never explaining the piece, or was it purely meant to be read, only by those bestowed with the ‘gift’.
Moral instability is a toll which people living in times of political or religious transition are bound to pay and because of this, the puzzle around Bosch’s psyche remains unsolved. His artistic personality was unquestionably an unbalanced, possibly disturbed one but imbued with mystical validity, which Bosch conveyed through the use of symbols. One thing is for certain in that The Garden of Earthly Delights is imbued with religious symbolism. To a common spectator, the painting reads with Christian ideology, from the creation of paradise, to hell, through the pleasures of the flesh. Although the other worldly structures, and monstrous creatures invade the landscape, the Christian symbolism of God, Adam and Eve, and the obvious portrayal of hell would be more indicative to the viewer than the hidden truths. The coloration of the figures, the representation of the Hydra and Griffon creatures, to the structural use of beaker and alembic, and even the over use of crescent moon symbol seen in all 3 panels, suggest analogies other than the aspects of creation and showcase an underlying essence of the alchemical process.
The Garden of Earthly Delights by the sheer size was made, whether purposefully or not, as statement piece. Painted in oil, the triptych comprises a square middle panel flanked by two rectangular wings that can close over the center as shutters. The piece measures at 220cmH x 195cmW when closed, but when open, the piece is a staggering 389cm across. The outer wings when folded shut display a grisaille Written along the top edge of the closed shutters is Psalm 33:9 ‘Ipse dixit et facta sunt, ipse mandavit et create’, for he spoke and it was there, he commanded and they were created. The panel marks the 3rd day in God’s creation of the world from Genesis 1.9.f – 13: God said, ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place, so that dry land may appear… Let the earth produce fresh fruit, each with a seed according to its kind’.