Adam en Eva schamen zich voor hun naaktheid 1645 - 1646

Editor: So, this is "Adam and Eve ashamed of their nakedness," a print, an engraving really, by Christoffel van Sichem the Younger, made around 1645-1646. It’s striking how…uncomfortable it looks, this scene. I mean, you’ve got the intense line work, and the way they're positioned, sort of cowering. It really highlights that feeling of shame. What jumps out at you when you look at it? Curator: Oh, discomfort, definitely. I feel the chill of expulsion. Beyond the obvious, the serpent lurking at the bottom and the imposing, almost cartoonish, God floating above… Do you get the sense that van Sichem wasn't going for strict realism here? I almost wonder if he had a cheeky sense of humor while making this. Notice how Adam and Eve aren’t idealized beauties, more like… regular people suddenly caught in an embarrassing spotlight. Editor: That's interesting! I was so focused on the emotion I didn't think about the, well, the lack of idealization. The proportions are almost…awkward. Is that typical for the time? Curator: Not necessarily, but it highlights a deliberate choice, doesn’t it? Van Sichem could have presented a Renaissance ideal, but he didn't. Perhaps he wanted to emphasize their humanity, their vulnerability in that moment of transgression. And look, everything in the image seems to watch them. Those deer…judging? The contrast is incredible; the graphic weight of God compared to this new-found heaviness in Adam and Eve. Editor: I never thought of it that way, but it’s true. It really makes you consider what "shame" truly means, not just religiously, but as a raw, human emotion. Thanks for that new perspective. Curator: And thank *you* for noticing the quiet weirdness! It's in those details, I think, that we often find the deepest truths. It makes me reflect on the story less as ancient myth and more a shared moment.