Hieronymus Bosch (Jeroen van Aken, ca 1450-1516), The Garden of Earthly Delights, triptych (ca 1500), central panel detail 6.
Prado Museum, Madrid.

The apotheosis of apparent innocent sexuality is interspersed with numerous irritating factors of perverse behaviour. In this sense are pictured the couple enclosed in a bubble, the pair nearby concealed in a mussel shell and the man plunged head first into the water and shielding his private parts with his hands.

Besides, the carnal life is alluded to in metaphorical and symbolic terms, for instance strawberries that figure prominently in the landscape, symbolizing here the fleeting nature of fleshly pleasure. Among other metaphors, hollow fruits and fruit peelings into which some of the couples have crept, are erotic symbols inspired by popular sayings and slang expressions of Bosch’s time.