Designs for stained glass windows, a crown of light, embroidery, and other applied work: late medieval archival documents reveal that far more was manufactured in the workshop of Hieronymus Bosch (ca 1450–1516) than his illustrious surviving oeuvre of drawings and paintings. And that is not all we find out about the 's-Hertogenbosch artist-craftsman once we take the time to analyse written contemporary sources.
Loes Scholten's PhD dissertation consists of the ‘BoschDoc’ database and a monograph on the life and working practices of Hieronymus Bosch. The dissertation covers among other topics Bosch's childhood and marital home, his workshops, neighbours, relatives and co-workers. Special attention is devoted to the commissions that Hieronymus, his relatives, and other late medieval craftsmen received from the Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady in 's-Hertogenbosch. The dissertation describes in great detail the art inventory of the richly decorated Brotherhood chapel in St John's Church. The archival information helps to create an increasingly complete picture of this creative, inventive artist and, above all, thorough craftsman.
Loes Scholten was affiliated with the Radboud University Art History department from 2012 to 2020, first as a research associate, and from 2013 as part of the Bosch Research and Conservation Project. In the latter role, she established the ‘BoschDoc’ database, which unlocks all source material on the late medieval 's-Hertogenbosch painter Hieronymus Bosch. Since 2017, she has worked on a monograph, based on archival documents, on the life and working practices of Hieronymus Bosch, in which the Brotherhood Our Blessed Lady Chapel in 's-Hertogenbosch plays a central role.
Her PhD thesis, entitled ‘Jheronimus Bosch en ‘BoschDoc’’ (Hieronymus Bosch and ‘BoschDoc’), consists of the database, the monograph and an essay on the value of archival documents for art history research. A public edition of the monograph – entitled Jheronimus Bosch en de Lieve-Vrouwe-broederschapskapel; de schildersfamilie Van Aken in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Hieronymus Bosch and the Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady Chapel; the Van Aken family of painters in 's-Hertogenbosch) – will be published by Walburg Pers in October 2024. Loes is currently a curator at the Stedelijk Museum Kampen.