THE SONG HIERONYMUS BOSCH PAINTED ON THE BEHIND OF A MAN IN HIS FAMOUS PAINTING

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch is among the most well-known paintings in existence because of the artist's use of distinctive aesthetics, eerie characters, and astounding depth. The painting is an oil triptych depicting Hell, Paradise, and the Garden of Eden. There are many small details in the intricate artwork that are sometimes missed at first glance. One such detail is the musical score that has been painstakingly printed on the buttocks of an agonised man, as shown in a particular YouTube video.

The third panel of the painting, which shows sinners in Hell, has the sheet music in the bottom left corner. The man who is being crushed by a gigantic lute and lying flat on the ground is the main subject of this scene. A great toad-like demon stretches its sharp tongue in the direction of the note-etchings; it's a singular, never-ending punishment that begs the question, "What did he do in life to deserve it?" 

In 2014, a blogger by the name of Amelia transcribed and recorded the music; she was gracious enough to share a recording of herself performing it on the piano. The song doesn't sound all that eerie given the painting's dark subject matter. This might be because at the time Bosch painted the composition, the song was written in C, a common key for chants from the 14th and 15th centuries. Rather, at times the musical score seems almost consoling, which is why Bosch's inclusion of it is all the more unexpected.

Click here to listen to the unusual background music from the famous painting.