Adam

For most of his long career, Lucas Cranach the Elder was court painter to the Elector of Saxony. Although the general placement of Adam, as well as that of Eve in another painting by Cranach also in the collection of the Art Institute, reflects the influence of Albrecht Dürer’s renowned classicizing treatment of the same subject in paintings and prints, Cranach’s slender, undulating figures conform to the contemporary courtly ideals of beauty. This pair is one of the finest of the many versions of the subject made by Cranach and his workshop.