Hieronymus tells the fictional story of the iconic painter Hieronymus Bosch, who little is known about. What was the inspiration for the original and fascinating idea at the center of the book?

My book addresses mainly the condition of the artists and the freedom of creation that were always dependent on the socio-economic realities of the times they lived. The main character’s creations were ahead of his time, making Hieronymus Bosch to be regarded as the father of Surrealism. Considering the historic and religious realities of the 15th century in northern Europe, and the following religious reform, or the daily life in Northern Brabant, Bosch’s paintings are not only intriguing and mysterious, but raise questions about how they been tolerated by the Catholic Church or the Inquisition. The relationship of Hieronymus (Jeroen in dutch) with his wife Aleid van Merveene, known as being wealthy and older than him – even though, at the time, the term “older” applied to women could be very different from nowadays standards – was a great subject to touch, as fascinating as the enigmatic sect of the Adamites persecuted over the centuries by the Catholic Church. Overall, the idea of writing a fictional story about a famous painter was inspired by the freedom in his creation that transcends the centuries.

What kind of research did you do for this novel to ensure you captured the essence of the story’s theme?

The amount of research was enormous. I started to write the play with the same title in 2010. In 2012 was produced at LaMaMa ETC in New York City, and in 2014 at the National Theatre of Iasi, Romania.

In 2011, I visited ‘sHertogenbosch, Hieronymus Bosch hometown, St. John’s Cathedral, the church he frequented and some of the old streets and Central Square that are and discussed with a few local specialists in the life and works of the painter.

A big help came from a Dutch historian who published documents from the town’s archives, that was a great source of research.

I study the socio-political situation of North Brabant as well that was a part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time, and the political tensions between the locals and the Habsburg Dynasty, that was reflected in the daily life of ‘sHertogenbosch society.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Besides the artist’s position in the society, I was interested in the women’s condition at the time.

The sexuality is another important theme of the book. The Middle Ages sexuality was tapped by many writers of the time such as Geoffrey Chaucer in his “Canterbury Tales”, or Petrarca in “Decameron”. As far as Bosch’s paintings contain a lot of nudity and some explicit scenes among the horrors of the Hell depicted in his tryptic, I considered important to bring to surface this aspect of the Middle Ages daily life. I exploited as well, the existence of the strange sect of Adamites who practiced the nudism and were persecuted and executed in public spaces for their heresy.

Other main themes are the creator’s solitude, the religion and the horrors of the Inquisition.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

I just finished another novel, “The Other Weapons”, inspired by the experiments with psychedelics made on human subjects by the CIA and USA Army during the Cold War.

The book follows the destinies of a young doctor and a painter whose lives are influenced by the strange military experiments. The action takes place in the late fifties and sixties at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland and in the effervescent artistic circles on New York City.

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