Schepping van Eva 1570 - 1643

Jan Collaert the Second created this engraving, "The Creation of Eve," in the Netherlands, sometime around the turn of the 17th century. At this time, the Netherlands was deeply divided, and the Habsburg Empire was attempting to suppress the Protestant Reformation that had taken root there. Prints such as this were produced en masse and disseminated widely. As such, they are powerful indicators of the worldview of the time. Collaert was a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke, the professional association of artists. He was thus part of an institution with a vested interest in maintaining a specific artistic standard. Note the way that this image naturalizes the subordination of women, who are shown as derivative of men. The nakedness of Adam and Eve also marks them as outside the bounds of civilization and thus in need of governance. To understand this image better, one might examine records of the Guild of Saint Luke, or even theological texts that were in circulation at the time. Art is always embedded within a specific social and institutional context.