Durer
Fall of Man
1504

Durer has pushed the medium of engraving to the very limit here. He has used straight and curved hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling and applied these techniques to the two figures of Adam and Eve. They are both sculptural and ideal figures which were constructed after many proportion studies. The shadows of the forest are behind them as they stand. Eve, ready to take the forbidden fruit, and Adam with the bough in his hand probably signifying the Tree of Life. Durer has signed his work on the paper held by the wise parrot.

The print is full of meaning. The cat at Eve's foot is a symbol of deceit, and perhaps sexuality as well. This suggests not only Eve's feline character but, as it prepares to pounce on the mouse at Adam's feet, Adam's susceptibility to the female's desires.

The parrot perched over the sign is the embodiment of both wisdom and language. It contrasts with the evil snake that Eve is feeding. The parrot would be associated with Adam and the snake with Eve. The four animals on the right were intended to represent the four humors, the four bodily fluids thought to make up the human character. The elk symbolizes melancholy, the cat anger and cruelty, the rabbit sensuality, and the ox sluggishness or laziness.