This painting by the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch (ca. 1450-1516), which apparently belongs to a four-part altarpiece, hangs today in the Doge’s Palace in Venice, which I can see from where I’m sitting right now.
I don’t know whether or not I’ll get a chance to see the painting this time around.
It’s fascinating, though.
The “tunnel of light” that it depicts is so similar to those described in accounts of near-death experiences that it seems highly unlikely to me that it doesn’t reflect actual experience. Was that experience Bosch’s, or did it belong to someone else? Nobody knows. Very little is known about Bosch’s life.
While we were still at sea this morning, I lectured to the group on ascension stories, basically in homage to Dante, whose hometown of Florence we visited a few days ago. I should have included this image among my illustrations, but I didn’t.
Posted from Venice, Italy
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