BALDUNG GRIEN, Hans
(b. 1484/85, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, 1545, Strassburg)

Adam and Eve

1531
Oil on panel, 148 x 67 cm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

This brilliantly executed painting displays one of Baldung's specialities - the treatment of the nude, particularly the female nude. The subject of this painting is original sin, which is conveyed not just through the use of the traditional symbols - the serpent and the apple - but also by Adam's eloquent pose, holding Eve firmly and possessively with a look that leaves nothing to the imagination.