The Expulsion from Paradise
1510
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 16.3 × 11.8 cm (6 7/16 × 4 11/16 in.); Plate: 16.6 × 12.2 cm (6 9/16 × 4 13/16 in.); Sheet: 16.9 × 12.2 cm (6 11/16 × 4 13/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
106566
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, God expelled them from the Garden of Eden. Although Eve’s sinful disobedience resulted in their exile from paradise, toil, and mortality, Lucas van Leyden sympathetically represented Eve as a mother, lovingly holding her infant son and gazing into his tiny face. This depiction of maternal love is reminiscent of contemporary images of the Madonna and Christ. Eve’s statuesque, refined figure and classical...
About the Artist
Lucas van Leyden · 1484–1533
Lucas van Leyden (1494–1533) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who stands among the greatest engravers of the Northern Renaissance. Born in Leiden as either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, he lived and worked primarily in his native city, achieving international renown that rivaled the German master Albrecht Dürer. Lucas van Leyden revolutionized Netherlandish printmaking and was among the first...