Return to Gallery
Adam and EveAdam and Eve © Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource, NY

Adam and Eve

Albrecht Dürer. 1504 C.E. Engraving.

Curator Note

"A display of the Northern artist’s mastery of Italian ideals. Dürer, the "Leonardo of the North," depicts Adam and Eve with perfect classical proportions (Vitruvian man) in a German forest. The engraving is filled with symbols of the "four humors" (temperaments) that were thrown out of balance by the Fall of Man."

Form

  • Engraving (printmaking).
  • Contrapposto poses (Italian influence).
  • Incredible microscopic detail (texture of skin, bark, fur).
  • Cross-hatching for tone.
  • Signed prominently on a placard.

Function

  • To showcase Dürer's skill to a wide market (multiples).
  • To synthesis Northern detail with Southern (Italian) proportion.
  • To visualize the theory of the Four Humors.
  • Commercial art product.
  • Study of the ideal human form.

Content

  • Adam and Eve before the apple is eaten.
  • Parrot: Wisdom/Virgin Mary ("Eva" <-> "Ave").
  • Four animals = Four Humors: Cat (Choleric/Cruel), Rabbit (Sanguine/Sensual), Elk (Melancholic/Sad), Ox (Phlegmatic/Lazy).
  • Mouse: Satan.
  • Goat: Lust.

Context

  • Dürer visited Italy and met Bellini.
  • First international art celebrity due to prints.
  • Protestant Reformation was brewing.
  • Engraving allows for mass distribution.
  • Dürer wrote books on proportion.