Religion Isp Bosch "Garden of Earthly Delights"

My ISP will be on "The Garden of Earthly delights". The question I have formulated is

Analyse Bosch 's "Garden of delights" with reference to the concept of human sin, or portrayals in the bible"

Hieronymus Bosch, a Nertherlandish painter is known for his fantastic visual interpretations of hell, death sin and folly. Little is known about Bosch except that he spent his life in the provincial town of s 'Hertogenbosch and that he died an old man in 1516. His work, full of weird and seemingly irrational imagery has proved so difficult to interpret that much of it despite the remarkable insights contributed by recent research, remains unsolved. This study project will explore some of his more obvious symbolisms and relations to sin as portrayed in the bible. The Piece in question is called ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights", one of his most famous works, made in c.1500. It is comprised of three panels, each depicting a different scene. Of the three panels only the left has a clearly recognizable subject: The Garden Of Eden, wherein the Lord introduces to Adam, the newly created Eve. And it is on this panel where we begin. This panel features the Garden of Eden, vested in its natural beauty, the tree of knowledge and of course the lord introducing Adam to Eve. And this in turn begins the sin that supposedly damned all of humanity: Original Sin. (Many religions have conflicting issues and views on the concept of original sin, but this will be explored with reference to the Catholic Church, and the bible.) Adam 's sin, as recounted in the Book of Genesis is sometimes called in Hebrew (translated: the first sin of man, or Adam). The account in Genesis (2-3), implies that Adam and Eve initially in communion with God. God warned Adam not to eat the fruit of "the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" (Genesis 2:15-17). The serpent persuaded Eve, who in turn persuaded Adam, to disobey this commandment. After eating of the fruit, they realised the mistake they had made, and were ashamed of their nakedness. They were cast out of Eden, damning the rest of Humanity. In this panel, Bosch has depicted them in the aforementioned "communion", but as we move along, we will see how things become twisted. The main analysis of this panel is quite simple compared to the next two. The birds, fruit etc, are symbols or metaphors which Bosch uses to depict man 's life on earth as an unending repetition of the Original sin of Adam and Eve, whereby we are all doomed to be prisoners of our appetites. This fruit motif, representing our appetites or desires, will again appear, as corruption begins to seep into humanity.

Quite neatly put by the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"The Catholic Church teaches that original sin, in which human beings are born, is "the state of deprivation of the original holiness and justice ... it is transmitted to the descendants of Adam along with human nature" (Courtesy of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 76)."

Here we see a landscape much like that of the Garden of Eden, populated with countless nude men and women performing a variety of peculiar actions: in the center, they parade around a circular basement on the backs of all sorts of beasts; most of them closely linked with enormous birds fruits, flowers or marine animals. Only are few or openly engaged in sexual intercourse, yet there can be no doubt that the delights in this garden, are those of carnal desire, however oddly disguised. This world to Bosch is brimming with symbols of sin. The motifs in this panel are the water birds, fish and ripe strawberries. Most interpreters associate these symbols with the sin of Lust. Lust; is one of the Seven Deadly sins of man.
Lust is a term for an intense desire or craving, usually sexual. Lust implies a sexual desire in and of itself, an erotic arousal and wish, or intense physical or sexual attraction or craving. – Wikipedia. In this sense, it is considered a vice by Christianity, and is listed as one of the seven deadly sins.
The enlarged fruits are, as previously stated metaphors, representing humanities powerlessness against their appetites. In this case mostly sexual. The men and women are overcome with the sin, and suddenly the communion, holy garden becomes corrupt. Not completely, as there is an air of innocence about this frame, but in little guilty slices. This panel begins showing human indulging in sex. Love is corrupted by sex, and the carnal fetishes of the humans emerge. One can also see the emergence of the deadly sin of Gluttony on the left hand side, where some of the humans are leeching off a giant grape vine. And also an apple. But again this panel is simply the "innocent" indulgent in the newly emerged sins. Thus far, one can see a transformation. This in essence, is the theme behind this painting. The corruption of mankind by their own desires. How sin warps their being. Of all panels, this middle panel is the most confusing to scholars and interpreters, the next however is rather the conclusion to this metamorphosis.

The right most panel, a nightmarish scene of burning ruins and fantastic instruments of torture, surely represents hell. By this point Bosch has declared in his story that (he believes, at least) that all humans are all destined for Hell, The Garden of Satan, with its grisly and refined instruments of torture. In this arena, human sin is warped against the sinner, and they become tortured by their own sin. Once again, the seven deadly sins make a reprise in this panel, more so than any other.
The women beneath the bug-demon (Possibly Beelzebub) stares into a mirror, which is also the rear-end of a creature. She is guilty of the sin: Pride/Vanity. Also in this picture, people are being devoured. This may be the sin of gluttony, being reversed on the sinner. As is the man (glutton) who is forced to vomit into the pit beneath the bird headed creature 's chamber pot. The person depositing coins into the pit under the bird 's chair is guilty of the deadly sin of avarice (Greed, desire to obtain more money, wealth, material possessions or any other entity than one needs. Greed is listed as one of the Christian seven deadly sins, usually by the synonym of avarice.) The Seven Deadly Sins never occur as a formal list in the Bible. Some people say they can all be found in Matthew 's Gospel (chapters 5 through 7), but they are not in a simple list there, so direct reference is difficult. Rather than these sins being identified in a single place in the Bible, they are found all through it, from Genesis to Revelation. The letters of the New Testament mention all of these, and many others as well. The Catechism has many Scriptural references in the section that lists the "Seven Deadly Sins."

This hell is an endless suffering place where sins turn into personal torture devices and all egocentric desires are punished.
The unusual positions of the bodies, as well as the giant fruits on their heads are symbols of Lust. One Dirk Bax (a Dutch scholar) puts it quite eloquently; "The scene is profane as it depicts the perversion of love by carnal desires and appetites. The enlarged size of the animals and fruits suggests an overwhelming power of instinct over humans." Trying to sort through the myriad of activities one notices the giant ears with knives through them. Although not technically a sin in the bible, it is thought that this image was a motif for gossip/slander, or they act of. Similarly the ice skaters featured just above the giant metronome are also said to represent folly. Eggs are said to also be a motif and represent sexual creation. Bosch was said to identify musical instruments with lust. This is quite strange, but it does explain why there are numerous enlarged musical instruments, torturing their players in this garden. One can only interpret these strange images. Boschs work is ripe with religious undercurrents and connotations. However, many scholars and interpreters have difficulty still analysing his work. This analysis has been of his rather poignant motifs of sin, and the rather obvious symbolisms.
In the end, Bosch conveys his point about how sin slowly corrupts humanity. It begins subtlety, and slowly the individual becomes twisted. The garden of earthly delights was Bosch representation of this corruption. The Garden of earthly delights in this case is the culmination of unrepressed carnal urge. Of sinister desire. In other words the right panel. Hell is the Garden of Earthly delights were people are free to live their sinful lives. It is the ground for strange and wicked displays of man, and even stranger displays of torture by demons, or ones own vices. In essence, this is the main theme of the painting; the dualistic battle between mans virtue and vice.
"Sin creates [an inclination] to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root."
Para. 1865, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994
Bibliography:
History of Religious Art – Various Authors
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights
Catechism of Catholic Church
Microsoft Encarta.
http://www.csuchico.edu/art/contrapposto/contrapposto98/pages/%20essays/rosa.html

Bibliography: History of Religious Art – Various Authors Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights Catechism of Catholic Church Microsoft Encarta. http://www.csuchico.edu/art/contrapposto/contrapposto98/pages/%20essays/rosa.html