Adam and Eve

Copyright

Work in the public domain
Image: Courtauld Photograph taken at the National Gallery when work was on loan during Courtauld Gallery closure. Photo copyright transferred to Courtauld Institute. No reference to NG needed; confirmed in an email from Alice Calloway on 21/06/2023.
by-nc

Maker


1472-1553

Title

Adam and Eve

Date of Production

1526

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

Height: 117.1 cm (panel)
Width: 80.8 cm (panel)

Object Number

P.1947.LF.77

Mode of Acquisition

Arthur Hamilton Lee, bequest, 1947

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

On display
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Keywords

Label Text

Adam and Eve are depicted at the fateful moment they disobey God. Hoping to know, like God, good and evil, Eve bites into a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, the only forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. After hesitating, Adam will take the fruit and the couple will be banished in punishment. Cranach’s rendering of the peaceful animals creates a sense of serenity, soon to be lost. Cranach and his workshop made over 50 versions of this subject. This painting is one of the largest and most beautiful. His seductive depiction of nude figures and nature heightens the theme of temptation, central to this biblical story. Cranach painted his coat of arms (a serpent with a ring) and the date of the work in white on the tree trunk.

Inscriptions

Inscription: inscription : signed and dated : within image & recto (on the central tree trunk) : winged serpent monogram : 1526 //

Provenance

1906 : possibly Habich collection, Kassel; 1906 - 1929 : purchase, E.P. Warren, purchased in Kassel; 1929 - auction, Warren sale, Lewes House, Sussex, 22-24 October 1929, lot 546; 1929 - purchase, Lee of Fareham, Arthur Hamilton (1st Viscount); Lee Bequest 1947.

Exhibition History

Sin, National Gallery, London, 06/10/2020-03/01/2021
The Courtauld at the National Gallery, National Gallery, London, 27/03/2019-05/08/2019
National Gallery (permanent display during closure), National Gallery, London, 14/09/2018-03/09/2021
...More
Lucas Cranach, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 08/03/2008-08/06/2008
Temptation in Eden - Lucas Cranach's Adam and Eve, Courtauld Gallery, London, 21/06/2007-23/09/2007
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