Hendrik Goltzius - The Fall of Man [1616]

Hendrik Goltzius - The Fall of Man [1616], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The painting depicts the moment when Adam and Eve disobey God and eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which God forbade, when the serpent tempts them to do so. The traditionally depicted images of Adam and Eve after committing this original sin show the couple being troubled mentally with the sense of shame, guilt, and fear of punishment by God. But Goltzius draws them as a happy romantic couple, who might have eaten the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil decisively, not as a mistake committed by them.

In the painting, Eve takes the first bite of the apple and turns to Adam who looks into her eyes romantically, indicating the awakening of his desire for Eve. Goltzius has symbolically included some animals and other figures to communicate his own interpretation of the Fall of Man with the viewer. For instance, the serpent with a beautiful woman’s face symbolises the deceptiveness of what apparently appears to us. There is an elephant in the background representing piety and chastity in contrast to Adam’s weakness for the woman. The two goats indicate Eve’s lack of chastity. The cat looking straight at the viewer, like a judge, reminds the viewers the consequences of their sinful actions. The vine (a ground ivy) covering Adam’s nakedness shows his first awareness of nakedness.

[Oil on canvas, 104.5 x 138.4 cm]