2016-08-30 Tue

On 23rd August, Netherlands issued gold and silver collector coins featuring a replication of the famous paintings of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450 – 1516). Popularly known as “the devil’s painter”, this noted artist’s works have been celebrated and appreciated by art lovers all over the world.

Jheronimus van Aken was born in 1450 near Hertogenbosch and his family hailed from Aachen. He belonged to a family of painters; his father, uncle, and brothers pursued painting professionally.

He changed the name of a town called Jeroen van Aken known to a more appealing Jheronimus Bosch. This move worked well for him and he earned a lot of clients from the Royal families since the name of the town was grand. It was believed that King Philip II of Spain acquired many of Bosch’s paintings.

One of Bosch’s most appreciated works “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” was painted between 1495 and 1505 and is a three-panelled painting. The painting depicted nude figures, animals, over-sized fruit, and hybrid stone formation. Garden of Eden is featured on the left panel and the Last Judgment on the right. As per experts, he painted at least sixteen such triptychs, of which eight are fully intact and others are in now in fragments. He signed his works and about 25 paintings still exist which can be attributed to him.

Bosch was known for his own dark humour and was fearless to express his thoughts through his paintings. Some of them were even comic and absurd for which he also received some negative feedback from his audience.

The coin features a depiction of some of his popular paintings like “Last Judgment,” “Garden Of Earthly Delights,” “Magician,” and “Daddy Longlegs” on the reverse.

An eye is placed on the reverse corresponding to the eye on the obverse portrait of King Willem Alexander. Other inscriptions include the commemorative year 1516. The obverse also includes the year of issue, 2016.

The 5 euro silver-plated coin weighs 10.5 Grams and has a mintage limit of 12,500 pieces. The 5 euro .925 Silver coin weighs 15.5 grams and has a mintage limit of 10,000 pieces. The 10 euro .900 gold coin weighs 6.72 Grams and has a mintage limit of 1250 pieces. The 4 coin set of 5 euros .925 Silver coins weigh 15.5 grams each and are issued in Proof & Colour versions with a mintage limit of 500 sets.

The gold and silver coins will be officially issued on 16th September 2016 with the privy mark of the temporary Mintmaster.