Reading Bosch: new clues in a 500-year-old mystery – Dr Manuel Berdoy

Hieronymus Bosch’s late-15th/early-16th century triptych ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ (Museo del Prado, Madrid) is famed for its surreal abundance—and for a mystery that is resisting 500 years of interpretation.

Oxford biologist Manuel Berdoy spotted deliberate biological inconsistencies in the imagery and began a seven-year investigation with his father, Pierre Berdoy, the distinguished French photographer. Their findings offer a striking new reading revealed publicly in Oxford for the first time: a biblical-looking narrative that hides a sensational tale of 15th-century political intrigue, complete with a covert accusation of a royal murder.

Join us to experience the pleasure of deciphering new clues hiding in plain sight as we walk through Bosch’s most secret garden, mixing science and art on the path of discovery.

Dr. Manuel Berdoy is an award-winning biologist at the University of Oxford, with field experience across four continents and interests in animal welfare, reproducibility and education.

This will be followed by a screening of ‘The Curious World of Hieronymus Bosch’