Arts

04 Nov 10

The instruments of torture as depicted by Hieronymus Bosch in The Garden of Earthly Delights

The Bate Collection has opened an exhibition which displays the musical instruments of torture in Bosch’s iconic painting of Hell.

Andy Lamb, Museum Manager at the Bate, has put on display replica copies of the instruments in Hieronymus Bosch’s famous triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. But while trying to create exact copies of the medieval and Renaissance instruments, he found that Bosch’s designs do not work and sound ‘musically unpleasant.’

‘I have tried to coax a few harmonious notes out of the wind instruments', he said. 'But the racket that comes out of them is horrible. We had been hoping to create a three-dimensional exhibition in which visitors to the Museum over Halloween could see exact replicas of the instruments in the painting and hear the instruments play haunting melodies, but we have had to accept defeat and change the designs of the instruments!'

Mr Lamb added: ‘The hurdy gurdy would be difficult to hold as its strings are in the wrong position and there is even a superfluous string, while the trumpet has been coiled so many times that it is unfeasible to play and its intervals are almost certainly wrong. I am guessing modern musicians would struggle to hold the instruments properly, let alone play melodious tunes on them!'

The iconic depiction of hell in the third panel of the triptych is believed to have been completed in 1505. The painting shows man’s descent into hell after indulging in ‘earthly delights’, and musical instruments are used to torture the occupants of the underworld in the third panel.

But although the painting is abstract, Mr Lamb insists those instruments which are drawn correctly were intended to be exact replicas of real Renaissance and medieval instruments. He said: ‘Although the painting itself has surreal elements – some of the instruments are being used to torture victims – it’s clear that for the most part the painting is a definite attempt to draw actual instruments of the period from their original designs. Indeed, the trumpet is very similar to those in a manuscript in Lambeth Palace showing trumpeters accompanying Richard II to a tournament, which would have been available to Bosch.'

Mr Lamb added:  We were surprised by what we found, because the attention to detail in Bosch’s stunning triptych is otherwise remarkable. But it makes does sense – musical instruments are a tool, very refined and specifically designed to make a certain sound so artists without a musical background can be forgiven for drawing what they think they see, rather than what is actually there! This takes nothing away from the artwork. Iconography doesn’t necessarily portray an accurate representation of an object. Rather, it is used to conform to a romantic ideal.'

Recordings have been made of Mr Lamb and Richard MacKenzie, a third year Music student at The Queen's College, attempting to play Renaissance pieces on the shawm and the lute respectively. These will now be put onto the Bate's audio guide, which was launched in June and plays only tunes from the actual instruments on display. Other instruments from the painting include

Mr Lamb added: ‘The Bate’s mission statement is that if an instrument is sufficiently robust, there is no reason why people shouldn’t be allowed to play it – that’s what instruments are for, after all.

‘I had the idea for this particular exhibition because Bosch’s triptych is one of my favourite paintings and it is a great opportunity to showcase some of the Bate’s replica instruments, as well as instruments generously loaned from other collections.’ 

Bate Collection of Musical Instruments is part of the Faculty of Music and displays over 1,000 period instruments, including the earliest surviving English trumpet made by Oliver Cromwell’s state trumpeter, a military serpent played at the Battle of Waterloo, a plaster cast of Haydn’s skull and Handel’s harpsichord.

The exhibition is now on display in the Bate Collection, which is open Monday to Friday from 2pm to 5pm and Saturdays from 10am to 12pm.