A formal analysis of an artwork is taking the artwork at its face value. It is not taking any outside information to make an analysis of a piece of artwork. Using outside information to gain more knowledge an understanding of the artwork is called contextual analysis. In Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, a formal analysis will include color and repetition of this work. A contextual analysis will also be given. The color that dominates Bosch’s work is green, a secondary color. The other prominent colors in this work are a red, orange, and blue. Red and blue are complementary colors, which are more appealing to the eye. The human figures have a white value to them. This value gives the impression of purity and holiness. The left and middle panels are depicting the humans with a …show more content…
Under repetition are three subcategories, which includes rhythm, harmony, and variation. The rhythm in this work is the overwhelming human beings. The repetition also has en effect for the first panel because the absence of human beings and the focus on only the three figures. Which gives the viewer an idea that they are of most importance. There is also rhythm with multiple animals in each scene. There is certainly harmony in the first panel where the objects are centered. They fit naturally and comfortably in the work. In the middle panel there is harmony with the symmetry of the water, land, and the circling animals in the middle. However, the multiple humans give the work dissonance because they do not have a certain order. There is less harmony in the last panel because the artist used different colors than the previous two and the color has a negative feel. There is no symmetry in this panel. There is much variation because every single human is different, yet the same. They have the same make up, but the finer details, such as the face, are much different. Not only is there repetition with he humans, but all of the animals