WTF Art History

6 Creatures by Hieronymus Bosch That Could Be Pokémon

Zuzanna Stańska 4 October 2023 min Read

Hieronymus Bosch and His Fascinating World: The Garden of Earthly Delights

Bizarre

Listen to the Butt Music on Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights

Animals

Hieronymus Bosch’s Creepy Owls

Did you ever think where the ideas for Pokémon could be coming from? Here are six examples proving that in the 16th century, Hieronymus Bosch caught ’em all and put them in his works, including the magnificent Garden of Earthly Delights from the Prado Museum in Madrid. See all the Pokémon that could be Bosch’s creatures!

1. Lugia

Lugia is an immense, draconian, mythical Pokémon with avian qualities. Known as the Guardian of the Seas, Lugia is tremendously intelligent and is very gentle with the life around it, despite its colossal size. Here it yawns and is a bit overweight.

pokémon bosch: Lugia. Pokeserwis. — Lugia. Pokeserwis.

pokémon bosch: Pokémon & Bosch: Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1490–1500, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Detail. — Pokémon & Bosch: Hieronymus Bosch, *The Garden of Earthly Delights*, 1490–1500, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Detail.

2. Spheal

Spheal is a chubby, spherical, seal-like Pokémon with a short, flat tail. Although here painted in a sad mood, when happy or cheerful, for example when eating in a group, this Pokémon will clap its fins.

pokémon bosch: Spheal. Pokemon. — Spheal. Pokemon.

3. Shaymin

Shaymin is a small hedgehog-like Pokémon, and the smallest mythical Pokémon to date. It is so small that it was even caught in a glass bowl by a group of random people (probably the 16th-century fans of the game).

pokémon bosch: Shaymin. Pokemon. — Shaymin. Pokemon.

4. Piplup

Piplup is a penguin-like Pokémon, who has a strong sense of self-pride. Because of its pride, it has a hard time accepting food from humans and bonding with its caretakers. It lives along the seashore in colder climates; that’s why the alter-ego of this Pokémon in Bosch’s painting is skating.

pokémon bosch: Piplup. RDS. — Piplup. RDS.

5. Mantine

Mantine is a large, manta ray-like Pokémon. It can fly in the air if it builds up enough speed, in a similar manner to how real-life manta rays breach the surface, and can soar gracefully out of the water. Mantine is mostly docile. In the 16th century, its owner flew on its back with an owl on his head.

pokémon bosch: Mantine. Pokemon. — Mantine. Pokemon.

6. Psyduck

Psyduck is a Pokémon that resembles a duck or bipedal platypus. It is constantly stunned by its headache and is unable to think very clearly. This is why it sometimes eats random stuff, like frogs.

pokémon bosch: Psyduck. Shop7. — Psyduck. Shop7.

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