Hulspas 2001
“Ketter met de kwast” (Marcel Hulspas) 2001
[in: Skepter, vol. 14, nr. 3 (September 2001), pp. 12-15]
In this article Hulspas reviews The Secret Heresy of Hieronymus Bosch, published by the American art historian Lynda Harris in 1995 and translated into Dutch in 1996 as Ketterij en esoterie in het werk van Jeroen Bosch. According to Harris, Bosch was an opponent of the Catholic Church and a secret adept of the heretical sect of the Cathars. Although the last Cathar preacher (William Bélibaste) was burnt at the stake in 1321, Harris believes that the sect continued to exist in secret.
By referring to what Harris writes about four Bosch paintings (the Prado Adoration of the Magi, the Garden of Delights, the Ghent Carrying of the Cross, and the Rotterdam Pedlar tondo), Hulspas wants to show that what she says boils down to nothing but Hineininterpretierung.
'Why she is convinced that (Bosch’s) paintings have to be interpreted like this remains unclear. The only basis for Harris’s hypothesis is her highly imaginative interpretation of (…) an insignificant number of details. She has no other evidence, not even indications; she simply postulates Bosch’s hereticism and begins to interpret' [translated from the Dutch].
[explicit November 21, 2023]
