Meertens 1964
“Volkskundige elementen in het werk van Jeroen Bosch III” (P.J. Meertens) 1964
[in: Volkskunde, LXV (1964), pp. 49-60]
[Also mentioned in Gibson 1983: 149 (G84)]
To Meertens Lotte Brand Philip’s astrological interpretation of The Prodigal Son (Rotterdam) seems ‘a serious attempt to show us the way in the amazing labyrinth in which almost every work of Bosch makes us wander’. Meertens also gives a lot of credit to the new book of Wertheim Aymès in which he analyses The Prodigal Son and the Lisbon Temptations of St. Anthony. Often (but not always) Meertens prefers Wertheim Aymès’ explanations to those of Bax, but he signals that Bax is more meticulous and correct than his colleagues when describing details.
Fraenger’s theories have not been able to convince Meertens, and yet he believes that Fraenger ‘has signalled possibilities that may once contribute to decipher the work of Hieronymus Bosch’.
The least that can be said (in a polite way) is that Meertens’ evaluations of the literature about Bosch are not always convincing.
[explicit]
