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Only 20 paintings and eight drawings are confidently assigned to Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) but in their fantastical visions they have secured his place as one of the most cult artists in history. 500 years on from his death, his works continue to inspire scholars, artists, designers, and musicians, death metal band names and designer dresses. This Bibliotheca Universalis edition offers the complete and haunting Bosch world in one compact format. Through full spreads and carefully curated details, we explore the full reach and compelling inventions of the artist's genius as well as disturbing imagination. We encounter his hybrid creatures, his nightmarish scenarios, his religious and moral framework, and his pictorial versions of contemporary proverbs and idioms. Along the way, art historian and Bosch expert Stefan Fischer reveals the most important themes and influences in these cryptic, mesmerizing masterpieces.… (more)
User reviews
My trouble with this edition is the layout. It's very small in format (5 1/2 x 8 in.) and so correspondingly thick - nearly two inches. You cannot expect to reproduce a triptych with a central panel *alone* that measures 52 x 21 in. even across a double-page spread without sacrificing quality, so thank goodness for the detail pages! However, the arrangement of the illustrations is disorganized, and I found myself with fingers and bookmarks inserted in three or four places, flipping back and forth between text and pictures. It was a challenge, and one I confess I didn't sustain all the time. I wish I had the large-format edition; perhaps it's better in this regard.
An important resource with all the historical background on this unique, complex and delightful painter... or you can just savor the weird, bizarre, inventive and hilarious pictures.