Hieronymus Bosch was probably born in 1453 in s-Hertogenbosch, a prosperous and cultural place on the Dutch-Belgian border. He lived all his life in and near s-Hertogenbosch. He was an Early Netherlandish painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who belonged to an ultra-orthodox religious community called the Brotherhood of Mary. He took to call himself Bosch apparently after his home town. Few details about his life, and perhaps not the most important, are known. It is supposed that he was the son and grandson of accomplished painters. His father’s name was Anthonius van Aken. His real name was Jeroen van Aken and his work is known for its use of fantastic imagery to illustrate moral and religious concepts and narratives. His works reveal an unusual iconography of a complex and individual style.

An exact chronology of Bosch's surviving work is difficult. The themes of his works did not differ from that of his contemporary artists. The subjects of most of his works are religious, like Heaven and Hell, saints, hermits, the Passion of Christ, sin and its punishment etc. His works as unique is the imagination and complexity of demonic figures. Demons in his works are no more grotesque beastly caricatures, but monstrous hybrids of insects, reptiles, chunks of human anatomy etc. 

In his early paintings, Bosch began to depict humanity's vulnerability to the temptation of evil, the deceptive allure of sin, the obsessive attraction of lust and obscenity. Many of his paintings are devotional, and there are several on the theme of the Passion. He is especially famous for his fantastic, demon-filled works, one of which is ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony’. His vision was serious and vast in scope. Though unique in style and imagination, he did not leave any pupils or disciples behind, but only a few imitators who at the most may have had some personal contact with him. At the time of his death, Hieronymus Bosch was internationally celebrated as an eccentric painter of religious visions, who dealt in particular with the torments of hell.All paintings are courtesy of Art of Legend India.