Temptation and Fall
The Fall of Man
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Holbein: Temptation and Fall (August 1524)
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he serpent has a woman's head according to contemporary taste.
The scenes from The Old Testament are not included in the Holbein's dance of death alphabet,
but back in 1524 Holbein had designed an alphabet with themes from the book of Genesis cut in metal (picture to the right).
Holbein Bible: Serpent or carrot?
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Icones Historiarum Veteris Testamenti: Genesis chap. 2 & 3
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Holbein had also produced a series of illustrations from The Old Testament.
for a BIble published in 1538.
To the left is the picture of Temptation and Fall,
and quite frankly, it's not very good — the serpent looks like an overgrown carrot!
Still the same year, 1538, the illustrations for the Old Testament were published
under the name Historiarum veteris instrumenti Icones ad vivum expressae.
The publishers found it expedient to skip the carrot-picture
and instead complement the series with the first four pictures from the dance of death:
Creation,
Temptation and Fall,
the Expulsion from Paradise and
Life After the Fall.
The picture to the right is from a 1547 edition.
Variations: Aldegrever as usual makes a free interpretation,
and Eberhard Kieser copies Aldegrever.
Birckmann's picture is very different, and he's copied by Valvasor.
Bewick reduces the number of animals — including the monkey that sets Eve's hair.
Anderson deliberately skips the picture of Adam and Eve.
Various Artists
(1552)
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(1552)
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Pine oc Død (1587)
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Dances of death
Holbein's dance of death
Temptation and Fall
