Sculpture ''Adam and Eve'' 16th century - Southern Germany

Rare and very pretty creation illustrating the theme of the Fall at the moment when Adam is about to accept the fruit that Eve offers him. The work is sculpted on basswood and testifies to the elegance of the rich iconographic production of southern Germany in the 16th century.
At the center of the composition the tree of knowledge of good and evil with multiple branches and around which is coiled the serpent symbol of temptation.
Represented on either side of the tree trunk, Adam and Eve hide their nudity behind a braid of finely chiseled fig leaves.
Eve wears wavy hair with long locks modestly covering her chest. She holds the forbidden fruit in one hand to offer it to Adam who raises his right hand in a sign of hesitation or apprehension.
This composition is based on a later terrace, undoubtedly made in the 19th century and composed of a black marble slab inserted in a pretty base entirely sculpted on all four sides.
We will notice the quality and finesse of execution of the whole: details of the tree and foliage covering the bodies of the two characters, contrapposto posture of Adam, very gentle attitude of Eve with her right leg forward seems to be taking a dance step.

Dimensions
H. 58 cm x L. 34 cm x D. 14 cm

Southern Germany
Linden
16th century

The theme of the Fall is loaded with symbolism. The mental constructions developed by Philo (1st century AD) and taken up by theologians of the Middle Ages see in Adam the Greek ''Nous'' (the spirit), and in Eve ''the Aisthesis'' (domain of the senses). The fault occurs when Adam (the spirit) obeys Eve (the force of the senses).
The erect position given to the snake is undoubtedly intended to remind us that this animal was only condemned to crawl on the ground after its misdeed.
The Renaissance, then the 17th and 18th centuries were marked by the forgetting or rejection of symbolic values. A humanization of the motif then asserts itself; we are especially interested in the psychological aspects of the debate between man and woman, and we see the emergence here and there of a more or less malicious curiosity for the erotic interpretation of this scene.
(Ref: The Bible and the Saints – Iconographic Guide – G. Duchet-Suchaux and M. Pastoureau to Ed Flammarion)