The garden of earthly delights
One of the first books I ever remember was an encyclopedia set called Family of Man. I think some door to door salesman sold it to me ma. I can’t really remember the contents apart from one image which i kept coming back to over and over again. A painting, The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. More importantly the right panel, hell. I poured over every millimetre of this panel, it was a world that made sense to me, beautiful, fantastical, terrifying, completely engaging.
I went to the Prado museum in Madrid a few years ago for the first time and ran smack straight into the original. My breath stopped. My heart I thought would burst on the spot. I was paralysed by it. I have never had that feeling with any painting. I realised this painting, created in 1503 had a huge influence on my art, my writing my music and my outlook on life shaped by my imagination.
Again, another tiny moment and random encounter that shaped who I am and what I do with my life.
To this day I often close my eyes and drop into this painting before I start a project. Beautiful.
