Stefano Cristante

Abstract

Many investigators have been trying to interpret Bosch’s more complex work and masterpiece, the Triptych of Earthly Delights (Prado Museum, Madrid). The essay suggests to go back to the materiality and to the display-circumstances of the painting, pointing out its nature of “installation art”. In fact, the Triptych needs a ritualistic opening and an attentive exploration for being appreciated, seen as a whole and deciphered in its details. Bosch’s life and work were characterized by the peculiar condition of straddling between the medieval and the modern world, between the illuminated books and Gutenberg-typography, between Europe and the New Continent. After five centuries, the amazing and enigmatic atmosphere of the Triptych can still reach and seduce the contemporary spectator.