The Garden of Earthly Delights is a triptych (meaning three-paneled, folding work) painted sometime between 1503 and 1504, whenthe Nederlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch was at the height of his talents. When closed, the triptych shows the Earth, during the ‘dawning of time’. When read from left to right, the three panels represent Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, The Earth as a playground for sin, and Hell, to the right.
While the two wings are fairly straightforward- the birth of sin in the Garden of Eden, and also the perils of hell that await the wicked, the center panel is the most interesting and contested part of the piece. Is it a tongue-in-cheek nod to all things carnal? Is it a warning to humans that it may all seem like fun and games, until we all die and go to hell? It is strewn with naked people, in various stages of ecstasy, sexual aggregation and pleasure. Giant strawberries, sticklebacks and clams are hoisted and eaten, and it seems to illustrate the splendor of nature, but that is my secular interpretation, hundreds of years later at a time when humans could benefit for remembering their pastoral roots. I personally find nothing filthy or evil with the painting, and as a child, I thought that the center piece was meant to describe to you that we should be at one with the Earth, and eachother. But that could also be my hippie roots talking 
Considering that this painting was created during the Reformation, I wonder if the stone pieces in the center pale are meant to represent the papacy in Rome. The figures that appear to be anamorphic, could also be representations of the pope, in a red robe, perched above the head of his scepter. The shape to the left also is reminiscent of the pope’s headgear. I wonder- is Bosch trying to link the folly of the Catholic church with the sin of men? I checked out http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch/delight/
to see if they mentioned my idea of the mockery of the pope, but I found nothing. I was directed to several BOOKS (that’s right, whole books) written on the painting, but alas, I just may have to wonder.
