The Giraffe and the Dog

In the left panel of the Garden of Earthly Delights next to the fountain, there is a giraffe and a two-legged dog. They live peacefully alongside other exotic animals in a fantastical paradise. In the foreground, where God presents Eve to Adam, things are less sweet. The fall seems imminent.

Hieronymus Bosch shows us how we, mortal souls, emerge from an earthly paradise and, through our impure life on earth, are on our way to a horrific hell.