The Creation of the World and The Road

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Hieronymus Bosch, Creation of the World, 1490-1510



"The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it." - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Hieronymus Bosch's work, Creation of the World, lies painted on the outer panels to his famous triptych, Garden of Heavenly Delights. However, Creation of the World consists of a work of art in its own right, in its curiously muted grey tones. The bleakness of the world's landscape on the third day of its creation brings to mind the depiction of the Earth after its devastation in The Road. There, the bleak, ash-covered scenery, described in Cormac McCarthy's understated, staccato prose, results from some unknown destruction bringing civilization to its knees. But the pristine mountain streams hint that some hope remains for the rebirth of the world. Here, the world's raw, dreary landscape, with its curiously mineral-like textures and colors, suggests a grander panorama yet to come. Indeed, the triptych inside explodes in a riot of color, complete with Bosch's signature fantastic animals and hybrid creatures.

The undeniable religious themes in Bosch's paintings, and indeed in most paintings of the time, are echoed in The Road as well, where a deep spirituality reveals itself even in the grim, oppressive atmosphere of the novel. In Creation of the World, the figure of God looks upon the nascent Earth, a thin disc of land encased in a fragile sphere, with an almost morose expression and posture. His stance suggests resignation, as though already his creation moves under its own power and its fate cannot be changed. The inscription, "Ipse dixit, et facta sunt: ipse mandávit, et creáta sunt," or "For he spake and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast," from Psalm 33, corroborates this. Once God began the process of creation, it could not be undone. This heavy inevitability lays over the entire narrative of The Road, as the boy and his father struggle to survive and carry the fire.

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