The Interpretations
Each individual musician has written their own interpretation of the painting ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’. Each interpretation was imagined without researching the painting. It is personal to each musician, it is what they see and feel looking at the painting
The Garden of Earthly Delights was an attempt by the artist, Hieronymus Bosch, to depict a world that began with Genesis but, whilst culminating in the last judgement, it essentially had no end as the fires and torments of hell burned for the fallen and unworthy for eternity. It is a fantasy world, the age of innocence, Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ and the eternal fires of damnation all depicted in the three main panels…
My interpretation of this painting is that it represents the divide of dissimilar individuals. I believe, depending on which of the three panels the people are on, the painting shows the way that they go about living and how they experience life. The left and right sides show this divide of dissimilar individuals, but the middle shows a life where both dissimilar groups of individuals can come together…
Without researching too deep into Bosch’s beliefs it is my interpretation of the piece that Bosch painted the piece to appease the church with its obvious religious undertones, however I think that there is much more to the painting that could highlight his thinking. To start off, my interpretation is that the three panels of the painting represent three stages of human life on earth…
At first glance, its insanity, or perhaps a depiction of some drug induced psychedelic trip. It’s only when focusing in on certain sections that it tells a deeper story. I’m not really sure if I know what that story is.
My strange take on the painting: Perhaps it’s a snapshot of a period of time and place, maybe far in the future or in an ancient past, perhaps even some other realm or universe…