Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights is one of the most enigmatic paintings in the history of western art. Apart from a brief description by an eyewitness in 1517, there are no contemporary records that tell us anything about the original commission of the painting, its placement, function or audience. Reindert Falkenburg now offers a detailed analysis of Bosch's eye- and mind boggling play with pictorial traditions. He argues that the painting was created towards the end of the fifteenth century as a conversation piece for an audience of Burgundian nobles. He suggests that the Garden of Earthly Delights served as a multifaceted mirror for viewers to reflect on how humanity, while created in the image and likeness of God, in the course of history has lost its original identity and tends towards becoming one with a world that is susceptible to an all-perverting force of evil origin. This debatable nature of Bosch's imagery is central to any engaged viewership, historical or modern.

The glittering gem that is the City of Gold is brilliantly captured in artists’ graphite. The greyscale carbon does not mute the dazzling sparkle of the city founded on gold but, rather, sets it ablaze in a myriad of stark contrasts; black and white, masculine and feminine, positive and negative. It speaks to the observer and reader in a delightful style that is, at once, light-hearted, informative and compelling.

Gold in Graphite – Jozi Sketchbook is a beautiful collection of sketches of some of Johannesburg’s celebrated as well as forgotten masterpieces. Done by a single artist, it is accompanied by well-crafted prose and poetry.

The artist beckons the reader to emerge from the ideologies that prevent us from engaging with the city, her people and her buildings. Each sketch takes us on a journey through time and transformation, where we discover our city and fall in love with her. Through this voyage we exult in an affair that is oblivious to the perceived crime and violence that deter ordinary people from developing a relationship with the city. While our rainbow nation rejoices in the common ground that binds us, our most celebrated city reflects division and class. Breaking through these barriers starts with an exploration of the city and an appreciation of her past with an optimistic look to her future.