Diabolic torture inflicted on the ungodly; unspeakable yearnings straight out of the subconscious ¡ª the country now known as Belgium has given the world over five centuries¡¯ worth of depictions of the unimaginable.
¡°Fantastic Art in Belgium¡± at The Bunkamura Museum of Art places Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) and Pieter Bruegel the Elder(c. 1525-1569) alongside 20th-century Belgian surrealists and more, making up a show of more than 130 paintings and objects.
It opens with ¡°Tondal¡¯s Vision,¡± a work that was made around 1490-1500 in Bosch¡¯s workshop, possibly by the master himself. Based on a 12th-century text of ¡°infernal literature,¡± a literary genre that includes the later more famous example of Dante¡¯s ¡°Inferno,¡± the painting depicts hell as seen in a dream by the knight Tondal and reveals various cruel punishments for sinful behavior ¡ª such as a glutton being force-fed an endless supply of drink by a demon.
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