| Hieronymous Bosch | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | c. 1450 |
| Died | 9 August 1516 |
| Family | Aleyt Goyaerts van den Meerveen (wife) |
| Portrayed By | Adam Bramble |
Hieronymus Bosch was an Early Dutch painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He is an actual historical personage, written into the flashback scenes of "Dead Issue", which was the only episode of Forever Knight in which he appeared. Bosch was played by Adam Bramble.
In 1502 or 1503, Nicholas de Brabant served as a model for Bosch while he was painting his famous triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights. At the same time, Bosch was using a female model, Ilsa. She was very distraught; and Nicholas pressed her to confide in him. She told him that Bosch had raped her, for which she blamed herself for using her feminine wiles to arouse his lust. Nicholas assured her that the fault was that of Bosch; but she poisoned herself.
Historical Background[]
Portrait of Hieronymous Bosch, near his death (c. 1516).
Hieronymous Bosch was born Jeroen Anthonissen van Aken ("from Aachen") around 1450. However, he is better known from his signature on a number of his paintings. "Bosch" (pronounced Boss in Dutch) derives from his birthplace, 's-Hertogenbosch (commonly called "Den Bosch"), the capital of the Dutch province of Brabant.
Little is known of Bosch’s life or training. He left behind no letters or diaries, and what has been identified has been taken from brief references to him in local records. His grandfather, Jan van Aken (died 1454), was a painter who had five sons, four of whom were also painters. Bosch’s father, Anthonius van Aken (died c. 1478) acted as artistic adviser to the Brotherhood of Our Lady, an arch-conservative religious group of some forty influential citizens of 's-Hertogenbosch, and 7,000 "outer-members" from around Europe. It is generally assumed that either Bosch’s father or one of his uncles taught him to paint.
Some time between 1479 and 1481, Bosch married Aleyt Goyaerts van den Meerveen, who was a few years older than the artist. The couple moved to the nearby town of Oirschot, where his wife had inherited a house and land from her wealthy family. He died 9 August 1516.
Bosch never dated his paintings and may have signed only some of them (other signatures are certainly not his). Fewer than twenty five paintings remain today that can be attributed to him.
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Hieronymous Bosch.