Presenting Bosch
Jheronimus Bosch Art Center, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Over five centuries after his death in 1516, Jheronimus Bosch remains an exceptionally popular and famous artist. In the historical ‘Canon of the Netherlands’, only three painters are included: Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent van Gogh, and Bosch. The two major exhibitions of paintings and drawings by Jheronimus Bosch in ’s-Hertogenbosch and Madrid, which commemorated his death in 2016, drew well over one million visitors. These exhibitions triggered numerous publications and performing arts events, including a ballet, concerts, and a musical. New websites, video games, graphic novels, and documentaries aimed to reach additional audiences, further establishing Bosch as a global household name.
Parallel to this remarkable public success, Bosch continues to attract considerable scholarly attention. Traditionally, scholars of the famous master from ’s-Hertogenbosch have been especially fascinated by the iconography of his works. Since the late nineteenth century, numerous art and cultural historians have tried to decipher the meaning and origins of the curious hellish scenes, outlandish monsters, and other devilish images in his paintings and drawings. More recently, major advances in technical and archival research have also been published, largely through the Bosch Research and Conservation Project (2010–2020), an initiative that served as a foundation for the exhibition in ’s-Hertogenbosch. These findings allow for a fuller understanding of Jheronimus as a versatile and innovative artist who worked in the traditional late medieval setting of a family workshop in ’s-Hertogenbosch.
A decade after the two major exhibitions in 2016, the conference Presenting Bosch aims to provide a platform for looking back at previous presentations of Jheronimus and looking forward to how new insights could be incorporated into future activities. The organizers therefore invite proposals for 25-minute presentations on how Jheronimus Bosch and his work were, are, will be, and could be presented, for example, in publications, on websites, in documentaries, in permanent and temporary museum exhibitions, and through the use of facsimiles at the works’ original or early locations.
Presentations on any other topics will also be considered. Please send your presentation proposal and a short CV by email to Ron Spronk (spronkr@queensu.ca). The deadline for submissions is 15 November 2026. As with its earlier editions (see below), the conference proceedings will be published.
The conference Presenting Bosch is supported by the Jheronimus Bosch Art Center, the City of ’s-Hertogenbosch, Het huis van Bosch, and Radboud University Nijmegen. Conference Committee: dr. Bart Fransen (Centre for the Study of the Flemish Primitives, KIK-IRPA, Brussels), prof. em. dr. Jos Koldeweij (Radboud University Nijmegen), dr. José Juan Pérez Preciado (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid), and prof. dr. Ron Spronk (Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada).
Presenting Bosch will be the sixth international conference organized at the Jheronimus Bosch Art Center (JBAC), following Jheronimus Bosch Revealed: The Painter and His World (2001); Jheronimus Bosch: His Sources (2007); Jheronimus Bosch: His Patrons and His Public (2012); Jheronimus Bosch: His Life and His Work (2016); and Defining Boundaries: Jheronimus Bosch, His Workshop, and His Followers (2023).
At the JBAC, the conference will be organized and coordinated by Willeke Cornelissen, MA, and Jo Timmermans. The JBAC is a study and documentation center for the works and world of Bosch, serving both specialists and the general public. A large, specialized library can be consulted, and reproductions of the entire oeuvre in 1:1 scale are on display. The JBAC also sponsors the website Closer to Bosch, through which the findings of the BRCP are becoming freely and fully available.