Adam and Eve 1638

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drawing, print, etching, engraving

drawing

narrative-art

baroque

dutch-golden-age

print

etching

charcoal drawing

figuration

line

history-painting

nude

engraving

Dimensions 6 7/16 x 4 5/8 in. (16.3 x 11.7 cm) (plate)

Rembrandt van Rijn made this etching, Adam and Eve, in the Netherlands in 1638. As an etching, it’s a multiple; one of many identical prints made from a single metal plate. This image refers to a well-known story in the book of Genesis. Adam and Eve lived peacefully in the Garden of Eden until they ate fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge. Here, Eve is taking a bite, urged on by the figure of Satan, disguised as a dragon. Afterwards, they were banished from the Garden. The image creates meaning through visual codes and historical associations. Though ostensibly about a religious subject, its message may not be what it seems. Look at Adam’s anxious expression, and Eve’s slightly hunched posture. By emphasizing the human frailty of his subjects, Rembrandt subtly critiques the religious institutions of his time. As historians, we can look to Rembrandt’s life and the society of the Dutch Republic for clues to understanding this artwork better. Only by understanding its context can we truly grasp its meaning.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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Rembrandt's insistent realism displeased seventeenth-century critics, who preferred classical nudes and the soft, fleshy bodies of Peter Paul Rubens. One critic snipped that Rembrandt chose as his models "a peat stamper or washergirl from the barn." Brilliantly, he lit his naturalistic Adam and Eve from behind, with reflected light from the distant Eden, where an elephant ambles along, unaware of the scowling pair. The devil is borrowed from an Albrecht Dürer engraving; Rembrandt had acquired a large group of Dürer prints at auction the same year he made this etching.