A Dark Premonition

Hieronymus Bosch (ca. 1450-1516) is the most enigmatic artist of Early Modern Age. Inventing monstruous creatures, grotesque ogres, and bizarre chimeras walking abroad between this world and netherworld, he visualized the vices and desires of mankind, the promises of paradise, and the horrors of hell like no painter before and after him. Carrying Bosch's paintings in his mind and memory for 60 years, Dutch writer Cees Nooteboom describes his journeys to seven of them that he visited and studied in Lisbon, Madrid, Ghent, Rotterdam, and 's-Hertogenbosch, the painter's hometown. Bosch himself left no words, only pictures. Did he have a premonition of the times that were to come? ... Rarely has a man who has become invisible left behind so much that can be seen. (Cees Nooteboom) Biographies: Hieronymus Bosch, (c. 1450-1516) was born and lived all his life in and near 's-Hertogenbosch in the Duchy of Brabant. In 1488 he joined the Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady. A popular painter in his lifetime, he received commissions from the Netherlands and abroad. His work is known for its fantastic imagery, detailed landscapes, and illustrations of religious concepts and narratives. Cees Nooteboom, born in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1933, is one of Holland's most renowned authors. An award-winning essayist, poet, and novelist, his Schirmer/ Mosel publications include Saigoku (2013), Das Rätsel des Lichts (2009), Ultima Thule (2008), Tumbas (2006), Die Kunst des Reisens (2004), Kontinente (2000). He lives in Amsterdam and Menorca.