Adam and Eve (c. 1514): Art, History and Details

Adam and Eve (c. 1514) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Hans Baldung (German, 1484/85–1545).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A student of Albrecht Dürer, Hans Baldung absorbed his master’s ideas for his own version of Adam and Eve. Set within a dark northern European forest, the first couple has already plucked the fruit from the central tree of knowledge. The starring role in the narrative goes to the serpent, whose massive form wraps around the tree, its monstrous head with jaws agape pointed toward Adam. With simplified garden imagery, the image may focus on the question of who bears responsibility for original sin: Adam, Eve, or the devil.

Object facts

• Title: Adam and Eve
• Date: c. 1514
• Creator attribution: Hans Baldung (German, 1484/85–1545)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: woodcut
• Dimensions: Image: 22.2 x 15.3 cm (8 3/4 x 6 in.); Sheet: 22.2 x 15.3 cm (8 3/4 x 6 in.)
• Collection: PR - Woodcut
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1953.354

A detail from the museum

The initials "HBG" on the tablet at lower right are the initials of the artist, Hans Baldung Grien.

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.