Artwork Page for Adam and Eve

Details / Information for Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve

1504

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Culture
Germany, early 16th Century
Medium
engraving
Measurements
Image: 25 x 19.2 cm (9 13/16 x 7 9/16 in.); Sheet: 25.2 x 19.4 cm (9 15/16 x 7 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1944.473
Catalogue raisonné
Meder 1
State
II/III
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

Albrecht Dürer set the Garden of Eden in a northern forest, with the tree of knowledge represented by a fig tree and the tree of life, a mountain ash.

Description

Albrecht Dürer’s iconic engraving was hugely impactful to the spread of natural symbolism in Europe. Drawing upon Classical sculptural models, he represented Adam and Eve in perfect, uncorrupted beauty moments before tasting the forbidden fruit. The tree of knowledge, with its writhing serpent, is a fig tree, and the tree of life, which Adam clasps, a
mountain ash, native to Northern Europe. The elk, rabbit, cat, and ox are symbols of the four human temperaments—melancholic (gloomy), sanguine (sensual), choleric (cruel), and phlegmatic (slothful)—in perfect balance. But the cat and mouse hint at aggression to come, and the parrot, appearing like a beacon in the dark northern forest, heralds the promise of the Virgin Mary (the new Eve).
A vertically oriented print in black ink on cream paper depicts a forest with Adam on the left and Eve on the right, a nude man and woman with light skin tones, defined muscles, and wavy hair, Adam's short and Eve's long. Leaves cover their genitals. Both look toward a snake wrapped around a branch between them, from which the woman takes a fruit, another in her hand behind her back. At their feet, animals gather.

Adam and Eve

1504

Albrecht Dürer

(German, 1471–1528)
Germany, early 16th Century

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