Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve
Allen Fund, 1944.473 · The Cleveland Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)View original →
Albrecht Dürer

Adam and Eve

1504

Current Collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Medium
engraving
Dimensions
25.2 × 19.4 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-201585

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…

Provenance

Allen Fund, 1944.473

Registry history

  • 1504 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — prints

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