Bosch’s Christ mocked : a longer look

An stimulating study morning at the National Gallery focusing on their picture by Hieronymus Bosch of Christ being mocked after his trial.

The session was led by Sian Walters and she began by putting the picture in context both of the life of Bosch, of which little is known, and the period. She also looked at its composition. We then went on to look at the symbolism in the work such as the role that grotesque figures played, the anti-Semitic implications and the references to the church at the time.

I was fascinated by  some very high resolution photographs she had which had been taken with a microscope of the fine detail of the detail of the work showing how the smallest brush stokes which can’t be seen by the naked eye build up the image such as the small swipe which becomes a button hole which you hadn’t even noticed on a first glance.

She also involved a group of dancers who are in residence in the gallery at the moment as part of a wider project looking at Bosch’s work for the 500th anniversary of his death in 2016. Each of the choreographers talked about what they had responded to in the picture. In turn this made you look at the picture again and question in more.

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