The Ship of Fools

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  The Ship of Fools by Hieronymus Bosch is an interesting, intellectually stimulating painting. It's sober colours set the atmosphere nicely for the fools, who are drifting off to some place unknown, perhaps, even to them. Bosch does a good job of filling the boat with crowded chaos until it looks like it may topple over with the sheer absurdity of its load.
  The best word to describe this painting is "foolish", and for the first time I mean this as a compliment. Bosch was a master of the bizarre – his paintings The Temptation of St. Anthony and The Garden of Earthly Delights are proof of that. His works, however, are more than just bizarre. They have a purpose. Bosch's purpose in The Ship of Fools was to point out the foolishness of the church (this is why he portrayed the nun and friar front and centre, while the professions of the others are not evident). Foolishness he achieved.
  Bosch tells a story with this painting – a story of the foolish and frivolous. He depicts this story very effectively. Everything in the painting revolves around the trivial – food, drink, and making merry. No attention is paid to the direction of the boat nor to the poor souls in the water below. In fact, none of the empty-headed nit-wits in the boat are paying attention to anything that isn't edible, intoxicating, or silly and fun, except perhaps for the person in the back who is vomiting. But we know that he will probably soon join the others in their folly.

     The story of the person climbing the mast is clear – he wants the roasted goose! However, why a roast is up the mast in the first place is not clear. According to What Great Paintings Say, Volume 2 by Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen, the roast has a purpose, as does the ridiculous tree also tied on to the mast. The book says that the tree is a parody of the Tree of Knowledge in the Bible, and that instead of life-changing fruit there is a fattening roast. For the average viewer, this meaning is too thickly disguised to be guessed at. I, for one, could never have penetrated this symbolism.
  However, I think that Bosch found a new use for symbolism. He used it as a way to enhance the bizarreness of his paintings. This keeps the viewer’s attention and piques his or her curiosity, making the paintings more intellectually engaging. So though many of Bosch’s symbols may be too complicated to the average viewer, they do serve a purpose and add a different dimension to his work.
  In this painting Bosch does a very good job conveying his theme and his purpose. He does this through evident symbolism and an atmosphere of disorder. His less straightforward symbolism also adds to the atmosphere of disorder and foolishness and makes the viewer think.

King Henry VII - Portrait

I wrote this for an assignment in my writing class to describe a work of art. My teacher said to use lots of descriptive adjectives ^_^ 

    Henry VIII is famous for his six wives. Hans Holbein the Younger made a portrait of this infamous king in 1540, when Henry VIII was on wife number four. In the background of the portrait are the words “anno etats svae xlix”, written in small golden letters, signifying that Henry VIII was fourty nine years old at the time. By then, his size had grown considerably.
    This portrait is entirely filled up with Henry VIII and his enormous, exquisitely ornamented, and finely detailed attire. Gold embroidery criss-crosses the front of his outfit and embellishes the mighty sleeves. An uncompromising velvet lays underneath the flashy gold. Set into the suit are opulent, dark jewels, large and numerous. Resting on his chest is a grand, thick, golden necklace, inlaid with pearls and the same dark jewels. A royal black fur vest doesn't get in the way of the details at all, rather, it brings out the colour of the rest.
    All of this attire simply magnifies the obvious power of King Henry VIII. He stands with commanding confidence. In the bottom right of the portrait hangs an ornamental sword. It is really not for practical use - just for show, but by the king's expression of determination and the way he clenches that glove in hand, you know that he wouldn't hesitate to send you to the executioner, who would do the dirty work for him, if you got in the way of one of his royal schemes.
    Yes, you can see it in his large, square figure and in his large, square face - this is a man who rules England! By his resolute countenance you know that he will have as many wives as he pleases.
    He has slight, fine, almost keen features - small, unassuming eyes, a tight little mouth, and eyebrows that are barely there, except near the end, above the ordinary nose, where they frown at you. Calm boldness is written across his face. Above is a long black hat decorated with three jewels and four strings of pearls, all inlaid with gold embroidery, and topped with a tufty, yellowish-grey crest running along the top and whirling down the left side. Below is a dark beard making his face square. The background consists of a mere solid, dark, rich green colour, so as to not attract attention away from the magnificent king.
    Everything portrayed in this portrait shows that Henry VIII is the opposite of timid. He will get his way, come whatever may.