>I was thinking of Gombrich on Bosch's Garden of Delights, where G seemed to
>feel Bs imagery could be explained in terms of millenialism, and seemed to
>know a great deal about millenialism (mostly from medieval encyclopedias). I
>wasn't persuaded that this was a meaningful approach to Bosch, so didn't look
>into it beyond noting that Gombrich seemed to know a great deal about
>millenialism, and his essay might be a good place to start for anyone wanting
>to look into the subject.
for a recent encyclopedia essay, see either the Mirriam Webster
Encyclopedia of World Religions (millennialism) or the Berkshire
Encyclopedia of Millennial Movements (Western millennialism), both by yours
truly, available also at
http://www.mille.org/people/rlpages/millennialism-mw-encyl.html
>Gombrich is a good mind but hard to classify, as he
>writes in so many areas. He's probably as out of fashion as Focillon, though
>that doesn't particularly bother me. I like that he's visually oriented. Gs
>essay on Bosch is actually a longish survey of the literature, in which G
>ultimately suggests that millenialism need more attention (as an aid to
>understanding Bosch).
not to mention the rest of the western tradition. in my book (currently
ca. half written) i am arguing that millennialism is a twice untold tale --
the religious historians, starting with eusebius, tried to write it out of
the tradition, and the secular historians, who wanted to minimize the role
of religion, hardly wanted to give attention to a marginal religious
phenomenon. irony. the most virulent forms of millennialism are secular
(ie, without a god to wait for, secular millennialists are [hyper] active).
>If you want the title, I'll look it up in my notes,
>though I haven't thought about Bosch for some time.
would like the title.
>pat sloane
Richard Landes
Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University Department of History
704 Commonwealth Ave. Suite 205 226 Bay State Road
Boston MA 02215 Boston MA 02215
617-358-0226 of 358-0225 fax 617-353-2558
of 353-2556 fax
http://www.mille.org [log in to unmask]
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