Bosch and Bruegel: From Enemy Painting to Everyday Life
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- Create Date：2021-09-09 06:56:00
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Joseph Leo Koerner
- ISBN：0691172285
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Summary
In this visually stunning and much anticipated book， acclaimed art historian Joseph Koerner casts the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel in a completely new light， revealing how the painting of everyday life was born from what seems its polar opposite: the depiction of an enemy hell-bent on destroying us。
Supreme virtuoso of the bizarre， diabolic， and outlandish， Bosch embodies the phantasmagorical force of painting， while Bruegel， through his true-to-life landscapes and frank depictions of peasants， is the artistic avatar of the familiar and ordinary。 But despite their differences， the works of these two artists are closely intertwined。 Bruegel began his career imitating Bosch's fantasies， and it was Bosch who launched almost the whole repertoire of later genre painting。 But Bosch depicts everyday life in order to reveal it as an alluring trap set by a metaphysical enemy at war with God， whereas Bruegel shows this enemy to be nothing but a humanly fabricated mask。 Attending closely to the visual cunning of these two towering masters， Koerner uncovers art history's unexplored underside: the image itself as an enemy。
An absorbing study of the dark paradoxes of human creativity， Bosch and Bruegel is also a timely account of how hatred can be converted into tolerance through the agency of art。 It takes readers through all the major paintings， drawings， and prints of these two unforgettable artists--including Bosch's notoriously elusive Garden of Earthly Delights， which forms the core of this historical tour de force。 Elegantly written and abundantly illustrated， the book is based on Koerner's A。 W。 Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts， a series given annually at the National Gallery of Art， Washington。
Supreme virtuoso of the bizarre， diabolic， and outlandish， Bosch embodies the phantasmagorical force of painting， while Bruegel， through his true-to-life landscapes and frank depictions of peasants， is the artistic avatar of the familiar and ordinary。 But despite their differences， the works of these two artists are closely intertwined。 Bruegel began his career imitating Bosch's fantasies， and it was Bosch who launched almost the whole repertoire of later genre painting。 But Bosch depicts everyday life in order to reveal it as an alluring trap set by a metaphysical enemy at war with God， whereas Bruegel shows this enemy to be nothing but a humanly fabricated mask。 Attending closely to the visual cunning of these two towering masters， Koerner uncovers art history's unexplored underside: the image itself as an enemy。
An absorbing study of the dark paradoxes of human creativity， Bosch and Bruegel is also a timely account of how hatred can be converted into tolerance through the agency of art。 It takes readers through all the major paintings， drawings， and prints of these two unforgettable artists--including Bosch's notoriously elusive Garden of Earthly Delights， which forms the core of this historical tour de force。 Elegantly written and abundantly illustrated， the book is based on Koerner's A。 W。 Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts， a series given annually at the National Gallery of Art， Washington。
Reviews
Jordan St。 Stier
，
A tour de force of intellectual writing- musings on philosophy and ethics coupled with art criticism- very interesting。
Adam Schrecengost
，
Given its pressing， it's not surprising that this is truly An Academic's book。 The illustrations and details are astounding but unless you're looking for an in-depth analysis around influences of and theories around the artists' lives and work， this is best left for the PhD crowd。 Given its pressing， it's not surprising that this is truly An Academic's book。 The illustrations and details are astounding but unless you're looking for an in-depth analysis around influences of and theories around the artists' lives and work， this is best left for the PhD crowd。 。。。more
Tony Gualtieri
，
Brilliant readings of these two masters。
Steven E
，
When I first encountered the paintings of H。 Bosch as a kid， my reaction seemed appropriate enough: shock and fear。 Later I learned that many of the seemingly bizarre details were drawn from popular idioms and expressions of the day， and so the paintings were rather like Gary Larson cartoons – and the appropriate reaction， at least of viewers during Bosch’s time， was laughter。 （“The Conjurer” and “The Hay-Wain” are still funny today if you know what the joke is。） This book， however， brings into When I first encountered the paintings of H。 Bosch as a kid， my reaction seemed appropriate enough: shock and fear。 Later I learned that many of the seemingly bizarre details were drawn from popular idioms and expressions of the day， and so the paintings were rather like Gary Larson cartoons – and the appropriate reaction， at least of viewers during Bosch’s time， was laughter。 （“The Conjurer” and “The Hay-Wain” are still funny today if you know what the joke is。） This book， however， brings into focus at least two other， deeper （and much darker） layers of meaning: one， that Bosch was aware that his paintings themselves could be seen as demonic enemies of the people viewing them; and two， a thoroughly nasty strain of racism and anti-antisemitism that was in Bosch’s culture but finds new expression here in the most vile and slanderous of terms。 Fortunately for modern lovers of art， the latter is no longer easily discernible。 Anyway， the author traces all three of these lines （visualization of idioms， “demonic” art， and prejudice） through Bosch’s art and into that of his artistic descendant Bruegel – where they transform into the art of everyday life。 How this is achieved is， of course， a long and complex process， and the author provides plenty of details and analyses。Read this book if you are interested in art， and marvel at the insights – but be warned that some of the content is even more shocking than Bosch’s paintings themselves。--Steven E。 Scribner， author of the "Tond" series （fantasy， with references to Bosch） https://www。goodreads。com/book/show/2。。。 。。。more
Karen
，
An absolutely fascinating read， particularly having see the big Bosch exhibition a few years ago and the big Bruegel exhibition last month。 Good concentration and a magnifying glass reccommended。
Rogue Insider Podcast
，
An in depth examination of the philosophical content of the paintings of Bosch and Brueghel， wonderful。
Diogenes
，
Dr。 Koerner crafts a big， bold， and beautiful book of superb scholarship that is incredibly enjoyable to read as he peels back the layers of time and history， storytelling and meaning-making within the works and contextual eras of these two profoundly powerful painters steeped in centuries-old criticism and absolute aesthetic allure。 I doubt any two other artists encapsulate so deeply the pairing of fascination and horror， landscapes with social anthropology， masks and their unmaskings， as well Dr。 Koerner crafts a big， bold， and beautiful book of superb scholarship that is incredibly enjoyable to read as he peels back the layers of time and history， storytelling and meaning-making within the works and contextual eras of these two profoundly powerful painters steeped in centuries-old criticism and absolute aesthetic allure。 I doubt any two other artists encapsulate so deeply the pairing of fascination and horror， landscapes with social anthropology， masks and their unmaskings， as well as pushed through the boundaries of “the nature of art” within each’s era’s historical frameworks。 For Bosch’s time period， Hell was real and gaping below the feet of all。 For Bruegel， at the beginning of the Reformation， the abject hypocrisies of class-based power structures under the Christian guise were all too clear， as much as the simple beauty and cruelty of basic human nature。 As a teasing， here’s a nice passage:“Not surprisingly， both artists have elicited a rich body of delusional scholarship。 What was intended as a puzzle gets transformed into an esoteric code that， deciphered， explains everything。 Rejected by most professional scholars， elaborate theories about the ‘secret heresy’ of Bosch and Bruegel inoculate their proponents against the criticism that greets them by dividing the world between initiates and persecuting outsiders。 Yet in spite of the puzzles they invert and the paranoid fantasies they kindle， both artists start and finish beyond enigma， in the way these paintings wink at us with their deeply familiar humanity。” （p。89）Koerner guides us through the maze-work of imagery and symbolism marvelously， and my only wish was that the plates were full-page spreads， so that we too could peer into the mysterious depths of these fantastical works as if our faces were inches from the original brushstrokes。 As someone with a very dusty BA in Art History from Purdue， I can only dream about seeing these works scattered about the world， alone and rapt， each in their intimate museum spaces， devoid of the human herd。 This book highlights the beautiful and surreal mysteries of true Art， as much as the scholarly pursuit of the truths behind the mysteries。 All art has meaning， humanity is awash with immorality （not always a bad thing）， and Bosch and Bruegel saturated their works within layers of both。 You won’t be disappointed。 https://www。theguardian。com/books/201。。。 。。。more
Bill
，
You can hardly beat the combination of these two incomparable artists。 The author dives deep to unlock their secrets， not an easy task， especially with Bosch。 But the close readings are fascinating and his interpretations often convincing， though occasionally over the edge to the purely speculative。 But the context he provides is rewarding in any case。 The volume loses a star because of its reproductions， which are too small and and sometimes too fuzzy to adequately support the arguments being p You can hardly beat the combination of these two incomparable artists。 The author dives deep to unlock their secrets， not an easy task， especially with Bosch。 But the close readings are fascinating and his interpretations often convincing， though occasionally over the edge to the purely speculative。 But the context he provides is rewarding in any case。 The volume loses a star because of its reproductions， which are too small and and sometimes too fuzzy to adequately support the arguments being presented。 。。。more
Jackson Cyril
，
I don't read much art criticism so this book was quite an eye opener for me; Koerner does a very thorough reading of many of the paintings of Bosch and Breugel， concluding that despite their radically different styles they both wanted to depict reality as they saw it。 I don't read much art criticism so this book was quite an eye opener for me; Koerner does a very thorough reading of many of the paintings of Bosch and Breugel， concluding that despite their radically different styles they both wanted to depict reality as they saw it。 。。。more
Ben
，