The Garden of Earthly Delights

So after visiting the Prado four times (all during free entry hours, don't worry), I finally settled down on my favorite work of art there. Sadly, it's not done by a Spanish painter, so I can't give a cool Spanish anecdote about it. Rather, it's done by a painter from a country I visited earlier this semester -- the Netherlands.

Hiernoymous Bosch painted The Garden of Earthly delights in the late 15th century, they think. It's a three-part painting, with a huge centerpiece and two planks on the sides.

I think it's supposed to be a commentary on the temptations of life. The left side represents Adam and Eve at the beginning of Creation when everything was pure. Then the middle is a garden full of nude people, crazy animals, and of course my biggest temptation -- oversized fruit. The right panel then shows hell and judgement for engaging in the earthly temptations.

I don't know why it's my favorite painting exactly. I think the chronology is pretty cool, and it communicates a clear message. It's hard to see a lot of the details in this little thumbnail -- but it's a very intricate painting. It has its own very distinct style, apart from the millions of other pictures of Jesus, which is probably why it caught my attention.