Adam and Eve at the Foot of the Cross

c. 1647

Claude Mellan

Associated Names
Claude Mellan

Artist, French, 1598 - 1688

The image depicts two nude figures in a complex scene. The male figure, on the left, is muscular with a full beard and curly hair, lying on the ground with his head tilted back. The female figure, on the right, sits with one arm raised behind her head, long flowing hair, and delicate features. Both have modesty leaves and vines covering some areas. In the background, there is a stone tablet with Latin inscriptions partly obscured by clouds, a reaching skeleton, stylized clouds, and chains on the ground around the male figure.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    plate: 36.8 x 57 cm (14 1/2 x 22 7/16 in.)
    sheet: 37 x 57.2 cm (14 9/16 x 22 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2001.14.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Montaiglon 1856, no. 27

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

F. Gawet, Vienna, 1826 (Lugt 1069). Johann Sigmund Bermann, Vienna, 1834 (Lugt 235). (sale, Galerie Bassenge, Berlin, 24 November 2000, no. 5171) (via David Tunick, New York); purchased 2000 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2004

  • Six Centuries of Prints and Drawings: Recent Acquisitions, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2004 - 2005

2009

  • The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480 - 1650, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; Mary adn Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2009 - 2010, cat. by Emily J. Peters.

Bibliography

1856

  • Montaiglon, Anatole de. Catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre de Claude Mellan d'Abbeville. Abbeville: P.Briex, 1856.

1988

  • Préaud, Maxime. Inventaire du fonds français: Graveurs du XVIIe siècle, vol. 17 (Claude Mellan). Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1988, no. 23, state only.

Inscriptions

by the artist, lower left in rock: CMellan inven. et scul. cum pr. R.; by the artist, center in banner: IPSE ENIM EST PAX NOSTRA OVI FECIT VTRAQVE VNVM Eph. Cap. 2; by the artist, center on tablet: AVDI / ISRAEL / Diliges Dominum / Deum tuum / ex toto corde tuo / er in tota anima tua et / in tota mente tua.; by later hand, lower left verso in graphite: Agos 6210 / A -1528-; by later hand lower right berso in graphite: 27 / DTHHCCIB 204

Wikidata ID

Q76337528

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