Hieronymus Bosch: The Wild Genius of the Middle Ages Inspiring Today’s High Fashion

I recently watched a fascinating film about Bosch—and I just had to write about it.

Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch artist from the late Middle Ages, the late 15th century. He feels like a creature from another dimension: bright, bold, and utterly unique. Little is actually known about him, and only a handful of his works survive. But that’s enough to understand—he wasn’t just a painter, he was a magician of details and symbols.

Born into a noble family, Bosch lived in the Spanish Netherlands—in Burgundy, the fashion and costume capital of the Renaissance era. His hometown even housed a military headquarters, giving him access to paint portraits of powerful aristocrats like the Prince of Nassau and the Duke of Burgundy.

Fun fact: his father belonged to the Order of the Blessed Virgin or the Swan Order—an exclusive club whose members reportedly feasted on swans (definitely an invite-worthy dinner guest). Bosch probably absorbed the choral polyphony vibes from the Gothic Church of St. John nearby, and it shows: his paintings are overflowing with countless intricate objects, almost like visual symphonies.

What makes Bosch truly exceptional is how he combined the unexpected: everyday scenes, biblical tales, and wild fantasy. His triptychs—three-part altar paintings—tell multiple stories at once. His most famous piece? The Garden of Earthly Delights—a mesmerizing swirl of colors and symbols where salmon pink meets pistachio green, and exotic birds flaunt yellow and indigo feathers.

Bosch knew how to capture attention: his works are vivid, strange, and full of surprise. You’ll find absurd details like fish with legs, flying fish, foxes and bears dangling from trees, and priests pierced by sins and transformed into animals—his tongue-in-cheek critique of medieval humanity.

He was basically saying: Don’t live like this, or you’ll end up in hell. But he did it with irony and imagination, loving to paint devils, witches, and wild monsters.

His themes were deeply Christian and religious, but this magical, surreal vision inspired the Surrealists centuries later.

And today, Bosch’s style isn’t just confined to galleries—it’s pulsating through high fashion.

Luxury brands echo his fantastical motifs and ornate patterns, paying homage to the mysticism and playfulness of medieval magic.

Even in Odessa, street artists recently celebrated Bosch’s iconic The Kiss with a fresh graffiti inspired by his style—proof that his genius bridges past and present.

This year marks the European Year of Culture, and Bosch stands as one of those shining stars guiding us from history into the future.