Adam and Eve
1504
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 25 × 19.3 cm (9 7/8 × 7 5/8 in.); Sheet: 25.3 × 19.6 cm (10 × 7 3/4 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
51498
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Albrecht Dürer’s engraving Adam and Eve exhibits the extraordinary detail and tonal range of which he was capable. The print’s meticulously described landscape and its symbolism are derived from late medieval art, while Dürer’s fascination with the canons of classical proportion and anatomy (Adam is posed like the Apollo Belvedere, while Eve recalls classical statues of Venus) comes from his study of Italian Renaissance art.
About the Artist
Albrecht Dürer · 1471–1528
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) stands as the preeminent figure of the Northern Renaissance and arguably the most influential artist in the history of printmaking. Born in Nuremberg on May 21, 1471, and dying in the same city on April 6, 1528, Dürer revolutionized the status of the artist in Northern Europe, transforming printmaking from a commercial craft into an independent fine art and establishing ...