The Fall of Man

The Fall of Man — Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden at the moment of the serpent's temptation and their eating of the forbidden fruit — was the founding narrative of Christian theological anthropology and among the most frequently depicted subjects in European painting. Cornelis van Haarlem's 1592 canvas in the Rijksmuseum is the same year as his Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, demonstrating his range across both mythological and biblical subject matter in his most ambitious period. The Fall required depicting two nude figures — Adam and Eve — in a perfect natural setting, allowing both the display of the idealised human body and the beginning of its corruption through sin. Cornelis draws on the established iconographic tradition — the serpent in the tree, the apple, the moment of offer and acceptance — while bringing his characteristic Mannerist figure treatment to both protagonists, whose physical beauty at the moment of the Fall is theologically significant as the perfection that sin will destroy.

Canvas with dual figure composition in a garden-paradise setting. Adam and Eve are given complementary nude figure treatments — Eve's softer, more sinuous form contrasting with Adam's more muscular physique — with the serpent-entwined tree as the central compositional element. The garden setting uses rich greens and flowering plants to suggest Eden's perfection.