The Fall of Man, from The Fall and Salvation of Mankind Through the Life and Passion of Christ
ca. 1513
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/8 × 2 3/16 in. (8 × 5.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.11.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the early 16th century, Altdorfer, a leading figure of the Danube School in the Northern Renaissance, crafted *The Fall of Man* as part of his series *The Fall and Salvation of Mankind Through the Life and Passion Christ*. This diminutive woodcut, measuring just 3 1/8 × 2 3/16 inches, captures the biblical moment of original sin: Adam and Eve succumbing to temptation from the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Altdorfer's shines in the intricate details crammed into such a tiny format, a testament to the woodcut medium's potential for fine-line precision and mass reproduction during the Renaiss...
About the Artist
Albrecht Altdorfer · 1475–1538
Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538) was a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman who stands as one of the founders of landscape painting as an independent genre. Born in Regensburg or nearby Altdorf, he learned art from his father Ulrich, a painter and miniaturist. Altdorfer spent most of his life in Regensburg, becoming a citizen in 1505 and later serving as the city's official architect and a m...