PXL_20240329_222310931

Adam and Eve.
About 1530
Lucas Cranach the Elder

German, Kronach 1472—Weimar 1553

This pair of paintings captures a fleeting moment when Adam and Eve pause on the verge of their transgressive decision that will lead to God casting the pair out of Paradise. Cranach interpreted the biblical story with insight and humor. Standing casually on pebbly ground beneath the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam scratches his head and quizzically regards Eve while holding the uneaten apple. Although the devious, blue-feathered serpent appears in the adjacent painting, Cranach wittily added his coat of arms (a serpent with raised wings holding a ring in its mouth) on the trunk here, linking the two scenes.