Hieronymus Bosch (attributed to the school of)
Netherlandish, 1450-1516 ca.
Descent into Limbo, 1520 ca.
oil on panel
10 3/8 × 13 7/8 in.
SBMA, Museum purchase
1967.7
RESEARCH PAPER
Identity and Description
“Descent into Limbo”, painted on a l0 3/8 x 13 7/8 panel, represents Christ's journey into Limbo. An oil type paint was applied with very fine brush stroking, some wet into wet, some layering of glazes over lighter opaque base. The panel itself is in good condition. The ground paint also is in good condition, however, there is a small circular scratch to the left of Christ's feet. The panel is not signed or dated, on the reverse side of the wooden spacer is the label "A 4898".
The early history of “Descent into Limbo” is unknown. It was in the collection of Major F. H. Fawkes, Farnley Hall, near Otley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England; the intervening history is unknown. It was purchased by Knoedler from Agnew in 1952 and purchased by the Museum in 1967.
Style
Bosch's inexhaustible, audacious fantasy invented all kinds of diabolical creatures and found expression in clear, skillfully organized pictorial forms. His work usually has a landscape or an architectural framework receding into space, providing a setting for figures that show Northern realism in detail and Gothic linearity in the crisp edges of the color areas, strongly opposed in value. The special luminosity achieved by the oil paint lends itself well to the theme of the painting. All this is particularly evident in any of his versions of the Temptation of Saint Anthony, a subject he painted frequently.
The canvases of Hieronymus Bosch are filled with scenes of tortures, monsters, leering devils as well as with a sense of misery and foreboding. Historians suggest that they were quite intelligible to people living in the fifteenth century, because they depicted the overwhelming concerns of late medieval Europe: The Last Judgement, original sin, death, temptations of the flesh. Many of the acts portrayed in his works were visual translations of traditional themes and motifs.
Little is known about Bosch's life or about his artistic background. He was a unique painter in the Flemish tradition, c. l450-1516. It is generally assumed that he was trained by his father or one of his uncles, but all of their paintings have been lost. It seems he did not travel, preferring to stay in or around ‘s-Hertogenbosch, from which he took his name. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Our Lady, devoted to the Virgin Mary. He was patronized by the church and did most of his paintings for the church at
's-Hertogenbosch.
Content
The panel represents Christ's journey into limbo to liberate the souls of the patriarchs. The central character is Christ, encircled in light, looking down (implying descent), robed in a red cloak, which symbolizes martyrdom, and holding a staff that's surmounted by a cross with an attached banner displaying a red cross on a white ground, which symbolizes crucifixion. Christ is reaching down toward the naked figures assumed to be the patriarchs, who are coming up from a sepulcher-type hole whose stone cover has been removed. These are believed to be all the bible patriarchs that died prior to Christ's death and are now being saved by Christ from the tortures of hell.
By contrast, all the other human figures, also naked and above the sepulcher, are undergoing eternal torment by a variety of demons. To the right is a spiked wheel with naked human figures impaled on the spikes, a demon is turning the wheel and gloating. Above the wheel, against a background of fire that gives off heat but very little light, a figure is hanging by the neck from what seems to be a fishing pole. In the center section of the painting a figure is being roasted on a spit by a demon. In the upper portion by a rocky outcropping, there is a mill wheel suspended by a tree branch, and an overturned empty jug. These two symbolize unchastity and licentious living. On the left a fish is painted with its head pointed toward Christ, and the patriarchs are emerging from limbo. According to most scholars, the fish was the earliest symbol of Christianity.
Very little is known about whether Bosch actually trained other artists. It is thought not. We do know that good copies of his work began to appear during his lifetime. Boschian qualities that are evident in this painting are: the egg-shaped structure in the left corner, the millstone and overturned empty jug, the fire behind the buildings, and the flaming tower.
The iconography of the descent theme follows two major types. In one, Christ is depicted breaking open the gates of hell. In the second type, which the Santa Barbara panel follows, Christ is cast in a less militant role, and appears to be in the act of administering a blessing or offering of assistance to the just souls. Both iconographical modes have been traced back to Hieronymus Bosch.
Prepared for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Docent Council by Frank R. Griscom, May 22, 1986
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Canney, Michael, “Surrealism and-Dada Revisited”, Art International, May 1966, p. l7.
Gardner, Helen, “Art Through the Ages”, New York, Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1948.
Gibson, Walter S., Hieronymus Bosch, New York, Washington, 1973, Praeger Publishers.
Lafond, P., Hieronymus Bosch, “His art, his influence, his disciples”, Brussels-Paris, G. Van Oest & Company, 1914.
‘s-Hertogenbosh, Noordbrabants Museum, “Jheronimus Bosch”, 1967.
Tolnay, C.de, “Hieronymus Bosch”, New-York, Washington, Praeger Publishers, 1973.
SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS
Representing Christ descending into Limbo, the first circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno, this painting is a copy after one of four works by Hieronymus Bosch depicting scenes of Christ visiting Hell. Also known as the “Harrowing of Hell,” the story of Christ descending into Hell to redeem sinners between his burial and resurrection is featured in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. Christ appears here illuminated within the distinctive shape of a “mandorla,” a pointed oval shape used in medieval and Byzantine Christian iconography.
Bosch’s original paintings of these scenes are described in written sources from the 17th century, but their locations remain unknown today. However, multiple copies of these works have been identified, including a version of this painting with an identical composition which can be found at the National Gallery of Ireland. The number of extant copies demonstrates the popularity of Bosch’s work throughout the 16th century, where many artists attempted to replicate his fantastical, grotesque imagery and intricately detailed painting style.
- Ludington Court Reopening, 2021