The Woman With 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' Tattoo Isn't What She Appears to Be

What appears to be a photograph of a girl flaunting her Hieronymus Bosch-inspired tattoo isn’t. It’s a stunning oil painting by Polish artist Agnieszka Nienartowicz. She graduated from the Fine Arts Academy of Gdask only two years ago and demonstrates incredible skill at her craft. For a decidedly modern feel, this painting combines the work of Hieronymus Bosch, a forefather of the Northern Renaissance, with tattoo art.

Interestingly, Nienartowicz’s private reflections inspired the piece, which shares a title with Bosch’s iconic The Garden of Earthly Delights. With a keen interest in man’s internal emotions and conflicts, she discovered the 15th-century painting to be an ideal medium for conveying her message. “Humans are full of contrasts and contradictions; they want to do good but end up doing evil,” the artist tells My Modern Met. “I was thinking about human nature, about sin and the evil will that are inscribed in our being, as if written inside us.” Then I linked it to Bosch’s triptych, which is about human nature. “I adore this painting; it is strange, strange, and beautiful all at the same time.”

Bosch’s figures, expertly painted in oil by the young artist, depict man’s fall, in contrast to the delicate beauty of the young woman depicted. Nienartowicz’s work is part of a resurgence of figurative painting in contemporary art. Even though the canvas is leaning toward hyperrealism, there is still a painterly touch to it. She strives to achieve the perfection of the Old Masters while carrying on their skilled tradition into the twenty-first century by combining old and new.

What does Nienartowicz get out of combining contemporary and historical elements in her paintings? “I treat each element as if it were any other item, but the historical elements bring a story and an emotional load with them.” Simultaneously, by including them in my paintings, I give them a new context, meaning, and life. Perhaps it’s also a tribute to the Old Masters?”

Agnieszka Nienartowicz’s The Garden of Earthly Delights depicts a young girl with a back tattoo inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s iconic 15th-century painting.