JHERONIMUS BOSCH COMES HOME: WORLD'S LARGEST RETROSPECTIVE OPENS IN FEBRUARY 13, IN NOORDBRABANTS MUSEUM

This year, it will be 500 years since Jheronimus Bosch died in ’s-Hertogenbosch (circa 1450 – 1516). Jheronimus Bosch 500 is the name of a multi-year event commemorating and honouring the world famous painter and it reaches its zenith this year. Featuring over 90 cultural events and projects, and in cooperation with dozens of institutions and makers from the Netherlands and abroad, hundreds of volunteers and with hundreds of thousands of expected visitors to the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the surrounding region, it promises to be a spectacular year.

 

The commemorative year started at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam during the traditional New Year’s Concert by the Netherlands Wind Ensemble on 1 January. Still to come, a wide variety of programming featuring exhibitions, performing arts, festivals, lectures, circus and city events for people from all walks of life. Ad ’s-Gravesande, Jheronimus Bosch 500’s intendant: “We are really excited about the fact that a number of prominent companies and exceptional makers from the Netherlands and abroad have agreed to contribute to our programme. They were all inspired by Jheronimus Bosch to create new works.

 

The 2016 programme consists of a large number of premières. From the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with the world premiere of the Requiem for Bosch by Detlev Glanert, new work from artists Jan Fabre, Jeroen Kooijmans and Marc Mulders in Bosch Grand Tour to choreographies by Marie Chouïnard, Jiří Pokorný and Juanjo Arqués; from musical theatre by Liesa van der Aa, Vasco Mendonça and Dimitri Verhulst and theatre from Lucas de Man and Jetse Batelaan to circuses Les 7 Doigts de la Main and Les Colporteurs.”

 

The exhibition Jheronimus Bosch – Visions of Genius (13 February – 8 May 2016) at Het Noordbrabants Museum will bring the majority of the artist’s works back to the city they were created in for the first time in 500 years. This includes the Temptation of Saint Anthony (fragment) from Kansas City, Missouri (USA) that, as a result of the research conducted by the Bosch Research and Conservation Project (BRCP), was recently ascribed to Jheronimus Bosch.

 

Moreover, nine paintings were thoroughly restored recently in cooperation with the BRCP. These panels will be shown to the general public in their restored state for the first time at Het Noordbrabants Museum. Charles de Mooij, Het Noordbrabants Museum’s director: “We are very proud of this first. Thanks to the meticulous restoration, the public will be able to enjoy the richly detailed and colourful work of Jheronimus Bosch more than before and it will remain conserved for future generations. The BRCP’s labours have made an important contribution to our goal of introducing visitors to the heritage and artistic quality of Bosch.”