Myths and Possibilities: Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder

This lecture delves into the fertile borderlands between reality and imagination in European art. Focusing on the period that bridges the late Middle Ages and the dawn of the Early Modern era, we will consider how artists used visual invention to explore the unknown, the wondrous, and the impossible.

At the center of our discussion stand Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder — painters whose fantastical landscapes, hybrid creatures, and teeming moral allegories continue to puzzle and fascinate viewers today. Their works conjure dreamlike realms filled with spiritual anxieties, earthly pleasures, and surreal visions that defy logical explanation. Yet these images did not arise in isolation. They are deeply rooted in medieval visual culture, from illuminated manuscripts and marginalia to theatre, folklore, and religious storytelling traditions that blurred the lines between the sacred and the strange.

Join us as we partner up with the Victor Wynd Museum and the…