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Inspired by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder produced numerous versions of Adam and Eve; they do not so much testify to his grappling with the ancient theory or proportion as to his interest in the relationship between man and woman. Religious and erotic references are interwoven. This version by Lucas Cranach the Younger on two panels shows full-length, roughly life-size nudes facing each other beneath the Tree of Knowledge. They are looking at each other—Eve seductively, Adam doubtful—still in paradisiacal harmony with their surroundings. Each is holding an apple; the Fall and Expulsion from paradise are imminent. The origin of these panels is not known; they presumably entered the Dresden Kunstkammer directly from the estate of Cranach’s workshop.

Details

  • Title: Adam
  • Creator: Lucas Cranach the Younger
  • Date Created: after 1537
  • Physical Dimensions: 172.5 × 63.3 cm
  • Technique and Material: Oil on Linden
  • Provenance: First listed in the inventory in 1595
  • Museum: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
  • Inv.-No.: 1916 A
  • ISIL-No.: DE-MUS-845318
  • External Link: http://www.skd.museum/de/museen-institutionen/zwinger-mit-semperbau/gemaeldegalerie-alte-meister/
  • Copyright: Photo © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister / Hans-Peter Klut; Text © Renaissance and Reformation: German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach, A Cooperation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München, Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Nov 20, 2016 – March 26, 2017, Munich: Prestel, 2016; Kat. Nr. 69 / Roland Enke
  • Catalogue: https://prestelpublishing.randomhouse.de/book/Renaissance-and-Reformation/Stephanie-Buck/Prestel-com/e504919.rhd
  • Artist Dates: 1515 Wittenberg–1586 Wittenberg
  • Artist Biography: The painter was trained in his father’s workshop, which he ran successfully after Lucas Cranach the Elder left Wittenberg (following his employer, John Frederick of Saxony, into exile). In many cases, clear separation of their oeuvres is only possible in the late work. Like his father before him, Cranach the Younger held respected political offices in Wittenberg.

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