The Garden of Earthly Delights

Bosch’s celebrated five-panel triptych consists of three oil-painted panels when open and two oak panels when closed. Its imagery moves from the creation of the world to the Garden of Eden, then to a vivid central scene of earthly pleasures, and finally to Hell. Rich in symbolism and imaginative detail, it remains one of the most widely studied works of the Northern Renaissance.

The Garden of Earthly Delights was likely commissioned for Engelbert II of Nassau or his circle. It then passed through Henry III of Nassau, René de Châlon, and William I of Orange before the Duke of Alba seized it in Brussels in 1568. Philip II of Spain purchased it in 1591, and it remained at El Escorial from 1593 to 1933 before being transferred to the Museo del Prado in Madrid, where it has been on permanent display since 1943.