Art in Endoscopy: “The Garden of Earthly Delights”

Fig. 1 Sigmoid diverticulum, tightly packed with feces.

This image, captured during a routine screening colonoscopy, shows a sigmoid diverticulum filled with fecaloid material. The distension creates an elevated border which makes this image both beautiful and unusual. Despite the non-inflamed mucosal appearance, it could be considered as the origin of an imminent diverticulitis as Hieronymus Bosch might have painted it in the left panel of his triptych “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” where the pink fountain of paradise contains a peeping owl in its gloomy niche as a symbol of emergent filth and evil.

Gertjan Rasschaert, MDDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

Publication History

Article published online:
26 August 2021