Adam en Eva na de zondeval 1651

Curator: This is Wenceslaus Hollar's 1651 engraving, "Adam and Eve after the Fall," housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Wow, the sheer weight of desolation captured in those lines is stunning. The density of detail feels almost claustrophobic, like the figures are trapped in their sorrow. Curator: It is a potent image. Notice how Hollar, skilled in capturing textures and detail, meticulously depicts the figures to emphasize their toil after being banished from Eden. Editor: Absolutely, I see Adam laboring in the field alongside Death, with Eve and an infant depicted as almost fading into the background – burdened, processing raw wool and barely noticed. What’s also striking to me is the stark reminder of mortality that borders the image—a skeleton lying prone at the base. This image seems rooted in real work. Curator: The print employs line work so exact it captures that inescapable cycle of human life, post-Eden. Hollar has also worked symbols of temporality throughout. An hourglass, signifying the passage of time, features on the left. Editor: The choice of engraving as the medium, of making multiples, speaks to the democratization of sin. The piece forces the viewer to ask questions of origin; who really profits from our fall? From the perspective of labor, Eden sounds remarkably like unpaid and unwaged labor. Curator: Perhaps it's that element that invites introspection even now, centuries later. It urges you to think about consequences, on both a personal and a grander, societal scale. Editor: And that contrast, the potential for both intimacy and global awareness woven into such intricate lines, remains powerful, provoking inquiry on faith and labor, who wins and loses after the fall.