Introduction

This book is intended to be a contribution to the study of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch c. 1460-1516. It is a study of two paintings: The Prodigal Son, and The Temptations of St. Anthony, and the second of two volumes, the first being a study of The Garden of Heavenly Delights [65] (Hortus Deliciarum). However, the present volume has been re-edited by the author and the translator, to stand alone as an introduction for English-speaking readers to the ideas and methods of observation, which have been used by the author to interpret the content and meaning of Bosch's work in a new light.

Bosch's great works cannot be regarded merely as ordinary paintings. By their very content, and the quality of the presentation, they challenge the student to attempt to find the meaning and the systematic sense in what initially appears to be irrational although beautifully painted, chaos. It will be shown that these paintings can be "read". They are then found to contain the teachings of a world philosophy which stems from the Rosicrucians, who developed a new cultural impulse for Europe and the West from about the middle of the fifteenth century. Bosch's paintings are in this respect comparable to the many secret writings and symbols of the Rosicrucians, which abound from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. However, his paintings must not be confused with the artificial symbolism of certain alchemists. They radiate a depth and quality only to be found in works of art of the highest order, and demand that the content be taken seriously.

It would be erroneous merely to classify Bosch as a "symbolic" painter in the modern sense. What Bosch painted was the content of his spiritual imaginative vision; it was the result of direct inner pictorial experience, not an abstract, calculated representation of theoretical ideas or dogmas.

Something more must be said here to explain the possible different degrees of pictorial experience, in order to explain how a method of observation was developed to study the paintings by this artist.

In a real, imaginative vision which is usually the product of concentrated meditative activity, a man can grasp the spiritual aspect, the living entities, of the outer and inner world of experience in such a way that an inner picture arises for him which truly represents the essential content of the subject of his meditation. This "picture", however, forms itself in terms of the outer percepts which are experienced by the individual in everyday life. Because this inner picture contains the essential content rather than the outer happenings of the original subject of meditation however, it may form itself out of outer percepts which appear to be arranged in a very bizarre way. Curious combinations of form and substance may appear which are not the product of abstract fantasy, but of a creative pictorial faculty. This faculty in fact lies dormant in all men, but to activate it, it must be cultivated. Many modern artists are experimenting with a new use of form and substance to reactivate visual pictorial faculties. Bosch painted out of a direct inner experience of visions which arose through a particularly vivid creative faculty.

Dreams, during sleep, are a decadent remnant of this same pictorial faculty. As the imaginative visions grasp the essences, and not outer forms, the inner imaginative pictures of various seers or true visionaries, have a similar content, though their outer pictorial form may vary according to their different perceptual experiences, i.e., the historical and geographical circumstances in which they lived. Thus the same spiritual thread may be followed through them all.

It has been shown with reasonable certainty by other scholars that Bosch was a Rosicrucian. The Rosicrucians and their work and teachings, must not be confused with those pseudo-alchemists, and charlatans, who in later centuries brewed a questionable picture of the world from outer symbols and low occult practices, at a time of spiritual decadence. The true Rosicrucianism belongs to the spiritual stream of esoteric Christianity, which adapts and transforms the way of its teaching according to the needs of new historical circumstances. Its message remains the same in spiritual essence, but its form must always be appropriate to the historical development of man. In 1413, Christian Rosencreutz founded his brotherhood. They bridged the historic transformation of the cultural life of the Middle Ages into that of the new scientific age. This mission, and its significance, have been fully discussed elsewhere [8], [53], [55], [56], [57], [60]. Their history is briefly summarised by Heyer [30]. The people of the Middle Ages in Europe tended to experience life inwardly, in devotion and contemplation. Their picture of the world was shattered by the great new geographic and scientific discoveries (Columbus, Copernicus, Galileo, etc.). People began to turn their attention outwards, into the world as it was.

It was the deep concern of the Rosicrucians that this sense-world to which the people were awakening, should not be experienced by them only as materialistic fact. They endeavoured that men should also see spiritual life in the outer world, as previously they had experienced it through inward religious contemplation. They taught that events should be seen as part of living processes, not merely sequences of outer arbitrary cause and effect. For this reason, the Rosicrucians practised "alchemy" instead of chemistry [47]. They laboured to achieve the synthesis of natural science and Christianity, the union of that which is spiritual and material for man.

Man only becomes aware of himself as an individual when he comes up against the outer sense- perceptible world. In this moment of awareness, the "feeling-soul-life" turns to "conscious-soul-life". Once self-awareness has been thus achieved the human will awakes, and turns outwards to express itself.

The teaching of the Church, that man consists only of a body and a soul, had, by the time of Christian Rosencreutz, become elevated to the status of a dogma. Against this dogma the Rosicrucians taught that man not only has a body and a soul, but also a spirit. This was rooted in much older Christian teaching than the contemporary dogmas. It dated from before the time when the church elders decided that man merely has a spiritual portion of his soul, and withdrew the wine from the sacrament. This older Christian teaching was in turn based on the ancient Aristotelian concept of man. Aristotle had called the "feeling-soul" of man "kinoetikon", and the "consciousness-soul" dianoetikon. Steiner has re-described these aspects of soul-life for modern western philosophy [51].

With the development of the "consciousness-soul", i.e. of self-awareness as individuals, men inevitably became less and less bound to that religious order of life which had prevailed throughout the Middle Ages. Similarly, the old social order no longer sufficed to contain the new dynamic brought into society by new outer experiences of the world, and the new quality of self-consciousness in individual men. It was for this reason that the Rosicrucians endeavoured to found a new social order which could do justice to the new human situation. For this, a profound knowledge of the nature of the human being and also of a new road to the Spirit were essential. Such problems cannot be solved by political measures alone, without a great deal of education of the individuals in society to enable them to make the correct use of a new political status and rights.

Fig. 1. QUENTIN METSYS (MASSYS), 1465/6-1530: Portrait of a Notary. Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland.

Doubt is often cast on the existence of a Rosicrucian movement before the beginning of the seventeenth century [67], but an observant student can find its traces long before this date, e.g. in painting. An example can be found in the picture by a painter 15 years younger than Bosch, who included an indication of its true significance for the benefit of a restricted circle, an indication which has even escaped modern art critics (Fig. 1). Quinten Metsys painted the portrait of a man. This unknown man is writing with a quill, but he also holds in that same hand, a rosebud and a cross. In other words, he is writing "Rosicrucian". He is thought to be St. Fiacre, as he has a halo above his head and other appropriate things. However, the cross of the Resurrection (empty) and the rose in his writing hand are useless symbols for St. Fiacre. Unless one wishes to regard these curious details as coincidental, which does not seem an appropriate view in our  estimation, then this picture alone answers the question whether historical evidence exists of the presence of Rosicrucianism before the seventeenth century for Quinten Metsys died in 1530. If one adds that Quinten Metsys was strongly influenced by Bosch in his early years, the circle of the argument closes, and it becomes plain how the ideas and concepts of the Rosicrucians were transmitted from one to another.

The Rosicrucians searched and studied the Gospels, particularly that of St. John, from the point of view of their esoteric teachings, and found content for meditation in their wisdom. They taught by means of pictures and symbols, appealing to imagination rather than intellect. They can only be understood if the student himself is able to develop imaginative faculties. The Rosicrucians tried to evoke imaginative effort and ability in all sorts of ways, not only through pictures and tablets, but through a wealth of fairy tales, legends proverbs and songs -- even to children's games and acrobatic feats. By all these means, they were able to bring the content of esoteric wisdom to the people, in the form of picture and parable, and at the same time to educate in the people the faculties needed to understand them. By thus educating the individual imagination of ordinary folk, they developed initiative and resource, abilities very necessary to deal with the new experiences brought by scientific discoveries to ordinary men.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was essential to hide religious and philosophical ideas if they did not coincide with the dogmas of the Church, for this was the era of the Inquisition. Here was another reason for the need to hide the new spiritual teachings in parables and allegory. Hieronymus Bosch had cause to fear the Inquisition which took an ever firmer grip on the people of the Netherlands in his time. He was one of the most important transmitters of Rosicrucian teachings.

Beside his imaginations and symbols, there appears many a "sign" in which he characterises the spiritual difficulties of his time, or answers the persecutors. One can recognise throughout a sort of secret language through which the intimate members of the Rosicrucian brotherhood communicated.

We must add here a short account of the individual who was most probably the spiritual guide and teacher of Bosch within the brotherhood. He was Jacob von Almaengien, almost certainly one of the chief figures among the Rosicrucians of that time.

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