Temptation and Fall After the Fall

 
The Expulsion  
 

The Expulsion from Paradise

Dance of death in Lucerne
Jakob von Wil's dance of death in Lucerne
Holbein: The Expulsion
Holbein: The Expulsion (August 1524)

A dam and Eve are driven out of Paradise. According to Catholic (and Lutheran) doctrine, Adam and Eve were immortal before the Temptation and Fall. See the page about the Original Sin. Death is waiting outside. It's odd that Adam and Eve are naked, when the Bible clearly says, »Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them« (Genesis 3,21).

Holbein has inspired the dance of death in Lucerne from 1610. Jakob von Wil also starts the dance with an angel with a flaming sword driving Adam and Eve out of Paradise, where they are greeted by Death. Notice the apple in Eve's hand.

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 Old Testament cut in metal (picture to the right).

Holbein: illustrations from The Old Testament
Holbein: Genesis chap. 2 & 3
Holbein also produced a series of illustrations for The Old Testament. When publishing Bibles and Bible picture books, these illustrations were often complemented 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 picture book from 1547 with Holbein's illustrations from The Old Testament — spiffed up with sundry Bible quotes and didactic poems.

Variations: Aldegrever, as he is wont to, makes a free interpretation, and Eberhard Kieser copies Aldegrever.
Birckmann reduces the angel, takes the sword sheath away from the angel, lets Death use a bow for his instrument, designs a deer behind Adam and a goat at the frame of the picture.
Hollar and Deuchar copies Birckmann, but Valvasor doesn't.

Holbein's Imagines Mortis: The Expulsion
Les Simulachres (1538)
Aldegrever: The Expulsion
Aldegrever (1541)
Vogtherr 1544: The Expulsion
Vogtherr (1544)
Birckmann 1555: The Expulsion
Birckmann (1555)
Scharffenberg 1578: The Expulsion
Scharffenberg (1578)
Eberhard Kieser imaginibus: The Expulsion
Eberhard Kieser (1617)
Hollar 1651: The Expulsion
Hollar (1651)
Theatrum mortis humanae tripartitum: The Expulsion
Valvasor (1682)
Mechel 1780: The Expulsion
Mechel (1780)
Bewick 1789: The Expulsion
Bewick (1789)
Deuchar 1788: The Expulsion
Deuchar (1788)
Bechstein 1831: The Expulsion
Bechstein (1831)

Temptation and Fall After the Fall Up to Holbein's great dance of death