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Like the depiction of Adam (also in the Prado, Madrid), that of Eve should also be considered in the context of the studies relating to the ideal proportions of the human body which Dürer had been making since his first Italian journey in 1496. The plastic values of the painting are toned down compared to those in the copper engraving, and the interior detail is gentler. Eve is gazing seductively across at Adam. In her left hand she is receiving the apple from the serpent, and in her right she is holding a branch from the Tree of Knowledge from which hangs a cartellino, a small inscribed plaque with the signature and phrase "Albertus Dürer alemanus faciebat post virginis partum 1507" (The German Albrecht Dürer made this after the Virgin gave birth 1507).
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