Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

  • Mon 11–5
  • Tue–Wed Closed
  • Thu 11–8
  • Fri–Sun 11–5
  • Members: The first hour of every day, 10–11 a.m., is reserved for member-only viewing.

Adam and Eve

A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

1543

Artist:

Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550)
after Barthel Beham (German, 1502-1540)

About this artwork

For disobeying God’s orders and eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve received the punishment of mortality, hard work, and pain. A skeleton, an obvious symbol of death, forms the trunk of the fatal tree, and the evil serpent winds its way through the skeleton’s hollow torso. Sebald Beham’s sensuous intertwining of the nudes, snake, and skeleton blatantly marks this depiction as a sexual awakening. While Adam is entirely naked, the gesture of Eve’s free hand both covers and accentuates her newfound sexuality.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Hans Sebald Beham

Title

Adam and Eve

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1543

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image/plate: 8.2 × 5.7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 1/4 in.); Sheet: 8.4 × 5.8 cm (3 5/16 × 2 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

Reference Number

1921.316

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/80764/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.
Learn more

Image actions

Share

Suggested Terms