The Fall of Man
Medium
Woodcut in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/block/sheet: 34.5 × 24 cm (13 5/8 × 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
88490
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In this scene from the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve is tempted by the serpent above her head to pluck forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. By consuming the fruit, Adam and Eve disobey God, who punishes them with toil, pain, mortality, and exile from Eden. Lucas Cranach here emphasized Eve’s responsibility for the Fall by depicting her as dominant over Adam and the animals in Eden. Eve stands over her submissive husband, supplying him with fruit while encircling...
About the Artist
Lucas Cranach the Elder · 1472–1553
Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472-1553) was one of the most prominent German Renaissance painters and a key artistic figure of the Protestant Reformation. Born in Kronach, Franconia, to the painter Hans Maler, Cranach began his career in Vienna around 1502, where he became one of the founders of the Danube School, a movement characterized by expressive landscape painting and emotional force. His ea...