“In the background of Bosch’s paradise landscape we can make out many other animals. Some will have been familiar to contemporary viewers, such as the boar and its young, which appear to enter the painting from the right. Animals like the elephant and giraffe were not endemic to Europe, however. Bosch may have seen an elephant at a fair, where they would be put on display occasionally. On the ’s-Hertogenbosch market, seal meat and seal furs were commonly sold, and even live animals were offered for slaughter.

In the late Middle Ages, a variety of so-called ‘bestiaries’ were also published, showing pictures of existing animals as well as fabled animals such as the unicorn. By depicting all kinds of familiar as well as exotic animals, Bosch pays homage to the miraculous and diverse quality of God’s creation.”