The Secret Erotic Allusions in the Work of Hieronymous Bosch

Hieronymous Bosch (c.1450- 9 August 1516) is undoubtedly one of the most difficult to interpret masters from around 1500. His work is known as labyrinthine, it has no clear outlines. The boundaries between authentic work, imitation and copy are partly blurred. The significance of many paintings that can be attributed to him with certainty is unclear or disputed.

Exceptional Position

In his time he occupies an exceptional position, although in his paintings numerous contemporary forms and ideas such as allusion, quotation or main motif can be recognized. Erotic allusions and sado-masochist details, for instance, can be found in several of his paintings such as ‘The Temptation of St Antony‘, ‘The Wayfarer‘, ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’, and ‘The Last Judgement‘.

Naked Fat Man

The center panel of Bosch’s triptych ‘The Last Judgment‘, depicts a nude figure, probably a woman, pissing though a window into a barrel through a funnel, and finally a naked fat man is drinking the liquid which comes out of the barrel (Fig.1). Transfigured in the style of the era, a naked man drinking the pee of a naked female is one of the favorite subjects of modern-day pornography. The right panel of this triptych shows a naked man, pierced right through by a sword, with the beak of a bird riveted in his anus, like a modern-day dildo (Fig.2).

Debauchery

The central panel of this triptych depicts sins (Fig.3). Its central figure, the so-called ‘tree man’, represents a tavern with the bagpipe, a symbol of debauchery and the male genitalia.

Flowers in Ass

In ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights‘, there is another naked man with, this time, a bunch of flowers stuck in his anus (Fig.3). In the same painting, one can see the lower half of a naked male body. Shame plays a role here as the man is hiding his erection with both hands (Fig.4).

Armless Dwarf

On the right panel of his pièce de résistance ,’The Temptation of St Antony‘, Bosch displays the usual temptations in the form of sensual seductions. One can see a hand on the private parts of a naked woman (Fig.5), but the owner of this hand is hidden behind a tree (Fig.6)!  According to Wikipedia the naked woman symbolizes luxury. Her seductive body is being presented to the holy person, who is depicted at right, deliberating while he glances at us simultaneously. The armless dwarf next to him, sporting a red mantle and using a walking frame, symbolizes humanity’s slothfulness.

Naked Demons

The last temptations are depicted in the foreground. The table with bread and a jar of vine, supported by naked demons symbolizes gluttony. The standing human pillar has his foot caught in a jar — an allusion to the sexual intercourse.

Peddlers

In ‘The Wayfarer‘, a slender man sporting grey clothes is strolling, holding his hat in his left hand (Fig.7). He is holding a cane in his right hand warding off an agitated dog. On his back he is carrying a large basket with his “household goods” in it. These kind of baskets were commonly used by peddlers in the 16th century in the Netherlands. To the left a tavern (and probably also a brothel).

Dagger and Alder

The sign with the swan and the birdcage indicates that the house is indeed a brothel. Other erotic allusions are the dagger and alder (popular phallic symbols), the poached catskin (allusion to infatuation and passion), the stake and the (latrine) vessel.

The contemporary artist whose work strongly recalls Bosch is the German surrealist Michael Hutter. Click here for an article about him or here for an interview!

Sources: Wikipedia.org / erotic-surrealist-paintings.us/ Jheronimus Bosch by Hans Holländer /

Do you know of more erotic references in the work of Hieronymous Bosch? Leave your reaction in the comment box below….!!