Adam and Eve
Albrecht Dürer. 1504 C.E. Nuremburg, Germany. Engraving
Dürer became increasingly drawn to the idea that the perfect human form corresponded to a system of proportion and measurements. Dürer's placid animals signify that in this moment of perfection in the garden, the human figures are still in a state of equilibrium.
Adam and Eve
Albrecht Durer:
Born in 1471 in the Franconian city of Nuremberg
One of the strongest artistic and commercial centers in Europe during the 15th-16th centuries
His greatest artistic impact was in the medium of printmaking
His father was a goldsmith and his uncle was a painter = inspiration
He apprenticed with local painter Michael Wolgemut
Workshop produced woodcut illustrations
Revolutionized printmaking
Elevated it to the level of an independent art form
Expanded its dramatic range and provided imagery with a new conceptual foundation
A german enthralled with classical tradition
Expressed his personal and cultural concerns within his works
Proud of his German identity
Loved Italian and Classical tradition
He visited Italy twice absorbing firsthand some of the great works from the Italian Renaissance
He wrote Four Books of Human Proportion (only one was published during his lifetime)
Also... introductory manual of geometric theory, including the first scientific treatment of perspective by a Northern European artist
A Scientific Mind:
Similar to Leonardo da Vinci
Curious intellect and scientific mind in addition to being an artists
Skill and inspiration made him a leading artist in the Renaissance
Embraced the ideals of the Renaissance first hand while continuing to celebrate his german heritage
Surpassed all others in printmaking (relief and intaglio)
Relied on his prints for profit and recognition
Gothic to Renaissance = Agent of Change
Engravings:
Specialized in woodcuts and intaglio prints
Mechanically reproducible media
Made in multiples = ideas and designs could be known in other regions and countries by large numbers of people
German artists could learn about classical art without traveling to Italy
Each image was handmade
More kinds of people could afford more artworks
Prints are easier to produce and less expensive
Traditional, direct contract between artist and patron:
Adam and Eve
The woodcut tells us primarily about the Renaissance and Germany rather than the text of Genesis
The poses of the two human figures show the Germans knowledge of classical proportions
Vitruvius: the proportions of the face (distance from forehead to chin)
Sacrifices naturalism to showcase his mastery of Vitruvian ideals
Preparatory drawings show that Dürer originally conceived the figures of Adam and Eve, as two separate engravings of the "perfect male" and "perfect female
Dürer experimented with incorporating the two figures in a single composition, without compromising his attention to ideal form
The religious--as opposed to secular--presentation, moreover, rendered the nude figures more acceptable to his German public
Body
Nude
Frontal bodies standing in contrapposto (where the weight of the body is shifted onto one foot)
Shift in hips and shoulders creating a convincing illusion of a body capable of movement but temporarily at rest
Naturalism
Head are turned to gaze at one another
Distinct configuration of head and body is artificial
Italian Renaissance = perfect physical proportions of the body
The nearly symmetrical frontal poses of Adam and Eve in The Fall of Man were carefully calculated to demonstrate idealized, canonical proportions of the nude to a Northern audience unfamiliar with classical norms of beauty
Both the proportions and the graceful contrapposto attitude of the figures were inspired by such famous Greek statues as the Apollo Belvedere and the Medici Venus
Humors = Human Personality
The four animals in lower right are representations of the four humors:
Phlegmatic
Sanguine
Melancholic
Choleric
This ancient theory, existed into Dürer’s time, which was that each human possessed all four humors
A person’s personality was determined by his or her predominant humor
Complex notion about how humankind was linked to the natural world
The medieval doctrine formulated in the 12th century, the perfect equilibrium of these humors in the human body was upset after the Fall, causing one or the other to predominate and make man mortal (durer represented this through animals)
Animals = symbolic meanings
Melancholic: elk (black bile)–despondent, sleepless, irritable
Phlegmatic: ox (phlegm)–calm, unemotional
Sanguine: rabbit (blood)–sensual, courageous, hopeful
Choleric: cat (yellow bile)–cruel, easily angered, feminine
Background
The figures are set off before a dense woodland filled with a wealth of plants and animals
Forest = German influence (durer's intention)
Erwin Panofsky was the first to decipher the complex and inventive symbolic program contained in Dürer's engraving
Adam grasps a mountain ash, signifying the tree of life
Contrasted with the tree of knowledge represented by the fig tree at the center of the composition
Tree becomes distinctly odd...
Eve plucks an apple from a tree with fig leaves
Seductive serpent deposits the forbidden fruit in Eve's hand
Opposed by the parrot = wisdom, discernment, and virgin birth of christ
Six other animals: elk, ox, cat, rabbit, mouse, goat
Small sign (cartellino) hangs from a branch that adam grasps
Identifies the artist as a citizen of the Franconian city of Nuremberg (Noricus) but does so in Latin
Symbols
Colorful tropical parrots were collectors items in Germany and symbols of art
Call of the parrot: “Eva-Ave”
Eve and Ave Maria (“Hail Mary”–the name of a prayer in honor of the Virgin Mary)
Word play underpins the Christian interpretation of the story of Fall of Humanity by characterizing the Virgin Mary as the antidote for Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden
Only Adam and Eve are in perfect balance internally
Durer’s placid animals signify that in this moment of perfection in the garden, the figures are still in a state of equilibrium
Mouse: male weakness
Mountain goat: lust and damnation
Serpent: evil
Parrot: salvation, the antidote to the serpent
Conclusion:
- A series of preparatory drawings for the figures and animals reveal the artist's intense investigation of form and narrative, and document the genesis of this composition more thoroughly than any of his other prints
