’S-HERTOGENBOSCH, the Netherlands — Hieronymus Bosch died 500 years ago, his soul dispatched to parts unknown — perhaps oblivion, perhaps heavenly peace, perhaps a hellscape of his own invention. His reputation, however, resides in earthly paradise, with two blockbuster exhibitions this year, drawing tens of thousands to admire his slavering, fluttering, waddling abominations.

Only about 25 Bosch paintings and a score of drawings survive, scattered through collections around the world. That means both exhibitions were acts of extraordinary organization, particularly for this charming little Dutch city, where Bosch lived, worked and died, but where none of his art remained. To obtain loans, the city’s Noordbrabants Museum — lacking grand works to offer in return — pledged to research and restore others’ holdings. With this, it obtained 17 Bosch paintings and 19 of his drawings until its exhibition, “Hieronymus Bosch — Visions of Genius,” ends May 8. Weeks later, the Prado in Madrid will begin its own Bosch celebration, including his other masterpieces, not least one of the triumphs of Western art, his captivatingly bizarre “Garden of Earthly Delights.”

The demonic visions of Bosch summon terrors of damnation from a half-millennium ago, but they also stir contemplation about what hell means today and how Bosch helped shape that view.

For contemporary viewers, Bosch imagery can convey a flavor of farce — for example, the bird-headed monster wearing a cooking pot as a helmet while devouring a man whose backside emits fire, smoke and a flock of blackbirds. Kooky as that appears now, the painter himself found little to smirk at.