ID: 700008919 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008919	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Adam and Eve (engraving (print); Albrecht Dürer (German, Nuremberg 1471-1528 Nuremberg); 1504; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, New York state, U...; 19.73.1;)

Note: Throughout his life, Dürer was in thrall to the idea that the perfect human form corresponded to a system of proportion and measurements and could be generated by using such a system. Near the end of his life, he wrote several books codifying his theories, including the Underweysung der Messung (Manual of measurement), published in 1525, and Vier Bücher von menschlichen Proportion (Four books of human proportion), published in 1528 just after his death. Dürer's fascination with ideal form is manifest in Adam and Eve. The first man and woman are shown in nearly symmetrical idealized poses: each with the weight on one leg, the other leg bent, and each with one arm angled slightly upward from the elbow and somewhat away from the body. The figure of Adam is reminiscent of the Hellenistic Apollo Belvedere, excavated in Italy late in the fifteenth century. The first engravings of the sculpture were not made until well after 1504, but Dürer must have seen a drawing of it. Dürer was a complete master of engraving by 1504: human and snake skin, animal fur, and tree bark and leaves are rendered distinctively. The branch Adam holds is of the mountain ash, the Tree of Life, while the fig, of which Eve has broken off a branch, is from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. Four of the animals represent the medieval idea of the four temperaments: the cat is choleric, the rabbit sanguine, the ox phlegmatic, and the elk melancholic.

Titles:

Adam and Eve (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,N)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

engraving (print) [300041340] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, prints (visual works), <prints by process or technique>, <prints by process: transfer method>, intaglio prints)

Classifications:

prints (preferred)

Creation Date: 1504

Creator Display:

Albrecht Dürer (German, Nuremberg 1471-1528 Nuremberg) [preferred,VP]

printmaker Dürer, Albrecht (German printmaker and painter, 1471-1528) [500115493]

Locations:

Current: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, New York state, United States) [500125157] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 19.73.1

Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1919

Display Materials: engraving

	laid paper [300014184]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>, paper (fiber product), <paper by production method>)

	engraving (printing process) [300053225]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <printing and printing processes and techniques>, printing processes, intaglio printing processes)

Dimensions: 9 7/8 x 7 7/8in. (25.1 x 20cm)

Cultures:

German (preferred)

General Subject:

human figures (preferred)

religion and mythology

Specific Subjects:

	Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise [901000428]
	.....((Legend of Adam and Eve, Old Testament narratives, Old Testament iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

Provenance: Ernst Theodor Rodenacker (German, active Gdansk (Danzig), ca. 1840–before 1894); Junius Spencer Morgan; Vendor: Junius Spencer Morgan Exhibition History The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Print in the North". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," December 4, 1992–April 5, 2013. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," October 17, 2006–January 7, 2007. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Power of Prints: The Legacy of William M. Ivins and A. Hyatt Mayor," January 26, 2016–May 22, 2016.

Watermarks: Watermark: bull's head (Piccard 66308)

Inscriptions: Marking: Ernst Theodor Rodenacker (Lugt 2438), verso, bottom left; Junius S. Morgan (Lugt 1536), verso, bottom left

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

..... Conceptual Works

.......... Conceptual Works by class: for movable works

............... Adam and Eve

Sources and Contributors:
Adam and Eve	........ [VP]
	........ Metropolitan Museum of Art [online] (2001-)

Subject: ....... [VP]

....................... Meder. Dürer-Katalog Meder, no. 1

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Metropolitan Museum of Art [online] (2001-)