Thursday, February 11, 2016

Hieronymus Bosch "Garden of Earthly Delights" Interpretation

Hieronymus Bosch, a Dutch painter from the Middle Ages, had painted the "Garden of Earthly Delights". I came across this interactive exhibit of the painting and am obsessed. Why couldn't every painting of significance have an interactive narration like this? They have two options - a narrated tour through 15 key sections, or Freely Explore numerous hot spots on the painting where audio notes are presented. Zoom in. Listen to the audio. Click on other links. The experience is absolutely lovely. It's like being in a museum and listening to the curators on the headsets, except you don't have to fuss with the back and forth buttons on the device.

This is a perfect mix of art history and technology. This is what online galleries need to do.

Also, I'm personally blown away by the details in this painting. We zoom into the details and everything is perfectly shaded or positioned, and has significance. When you zoom into the details, you see the mermaid and the mer-knight in the middle of the water. There are the birds in different sizes and performing different activities. Who..How.. Why? I can imagine this becoming full time mission for historians to dissect these components, all the while enjoying the beauty of the painting.

Yes, I'm obsessed.