Adam and Eve , 1507
208 x 91 cm (h x w)
油畫 木板 Ol on wood

are two works with the same theme created by the German painter Albrecht Dürer in 1504 and 1507 respectively. The first is a print using the copper plate engraving technique, while the second is what is believed to be the first life-size nude oil painting created after his second visit to Italy. Unlike the previous engraving, this oil painting is believed to have been created on two separate boards and omits the depiction of the Garden of Eden environment, focusing on the physical form of Adam and Eve. Unlike other works that mainly depict Adam and Eve to express sin and depravity, this painting focuses on the physical beauty of human beings. The shape of Eve's female limbs once became a template for female nude paintings. In addition, the painting is also very particular about the use of light. The light in Adam's part is warm, while the light in Eve's part is cooler, using light to highlight the characters.
Although the painting does not focus on the expression of sin and depravity, Eve still clutches the apple, symbolizing the forbidden fruit, in her left hand. This detail was depicted in the copper engraving, and the author still retained this detail when creating the second oil painting. Generally speaking, apples, a fruit, only have the connotation of sin and depravity starting from the story of Adam and Eve. As a result, in later works, people often start to associate with apples. People think of the forbidden fruit in the allusion of Adam and Eve stealing the forbidden fruit from the apple, and then think of the meaning of sin.

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