Jan Gossaert (Jean Gossart), 'Adam and Eve', about 1520
Key facts
Full title | Adam and Eve |
---|---|
Artist | Jan Gossaert (Jean Gossart) |
Artist dates | active 1508; died 1532 |
Date made | about 1520 |
Medium and support | Oil on wood |
Dimensions | 168.9 × 111.4 cm |
Acquisition credit | On loan from His Majesty The King |
Inventory number | L14 |
Location | Not on display |
Image copyright | On loan from His Majesty The King, © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust |
Collection | Main Collection |
Adam and Eve
Jan Gossaert (Jean Gossart)
/
Adam, wearing an apron of leaves, and Eve, still naked, stand between the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Adam has just tasted the apple that Eve holds, while the serpent watches from above. In the background is the Garden of Eden with the richly decorated Fountain of Life in the centre.
This is one of at least nine painted or drawn compositions of this subject undertaken by the artist; they became progressively more complicated. Gossaert was especially interested in portraying the nude figure; this painting shows the influence of Italian and German art.
This painting is on loan from His Majesty The King
Adam, wearing an apron of leaves, and Eve, still naked, stand between the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Adam has just tasted the apple that Eve holds, while the serpent watches from above. In the background is the Garden of Eden with the richly decorated Fountain of Life in the centre.
This is one of at least nine painted or drawn compositions of this subject undertaken by the artist; they became progressively more complicated. Gossaert was especially interested in portraying the nude figure; this painting shows the influence of Italian and German art.
Why can't I download this image?
The National Gallery has endeavoured to make as many images of the collection as possible available for non-commercial use. However, an image of this painting is not available to download. This may be due to third party copyright restrictions.
If you require a license for commercial use of this image, please use the National Gallery Company's Online Picture Library or contact them using the following:
- Email: picture.library@nationalgallery.org.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)20 7747 5994
- Fax: Fax +44 (0)20 7747 5999
1
More paintings by Jan Gossaert (Jean Gossart)
(Showing 6 of 8 works)
A bearded man gazes out intently from this painting. We don't know who the sitter is, but the cut of his beard and the fashion of his hat and clothes suggest a date towards 1530. The fact that both his doublet and gown are lined with fur probably indicates that the portrait was painted during the...
Not on display
A young girl, her clothes sewn with hundreds of pearls, gazes out at us. She seems to be playing with a golden object made of concentric rings. This is an armillary sphere, a celestial globe showing the movement of heavenly bodies. Its interlocking circles are echoed in the decoration of her clot...
Not on display
An elderly couple stare past each other – and us – in this astonishing study of old age. Although prosperously dressed, the pair seem disappointed: their mouths are turned resolutely down, their eyes dull and their jowls sagging. Although they overlap, each figure makes a self-contained triangle;...
A dark-haired man gazes to his right in a picture that must once have formed the right wing of a diptych or triptych (a painting made up of two or three parts respectively). He has not joined his hands in prayer, but his right is placed on his heart and he holds a rosary: he is clearly at his dev...
This large altarpiece is crammed with peasants, animals, angels and richly dressed kings and courtiers, come to worship the infant Christ, who sits on his mother’s lap in a palatial but ruined building.Jean Gossart has signed the painting on the hat of Balthasar, the king on the left, and on the...
In this small arched painting, the Virgin Mary is seated on a grey stone bench surrounded by a wooden frame. She wears a red mantle and uses both hands to gently restrain the naked Christ Child as he leaps forward with his arms outstretched.Once thought to be by a follower or even a late copy aft...
Not on display
Follower of Jan Gossaert (Jean Gossart)
Saint Mary Magdalene is identifiable here by her halo and her emblem – the pot of ointment with which she anointed Christ’s feet. The pot seems to show scenes from classical mythology. On the lid, one woman carries another through water – perhaps the goddess Diana helping her mother across the st...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 8 paintings