Artwork
Fall of Man
Fall of Man is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Hendrick Goltzius. It dates from 1608 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The figures’ gestures and the presence of the serpent function as visual cues to the viewer, directing attention to the pivotal act that precipitates the Fall.
The painting depicts the biblical Fall of Man, showing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the serpent coiled around an apple tree. Goltzius renders the moment of transgression as Eve reaches for the forbidden fruit while Adam stands beside her, their gazes fixed on the serpent rather than each other. The inclusion of the apple tree and serpent aligns with the Genesis narrative of the original sin, emphasizing the rupture of divine command through human choice.
The composition underscores the theological consequence of disobedience, where the harmony of Eden gives way to the introduction of shame and mortality. The figures’ gestures and the presence of the serpent function as visual cues to the viewer, directing attention to the pivotal act that precipitates the Fall.
Technique & Style
Painted in oil on panel in 1608, the work measures 203.5 cm in height and 134 cm in width. Goltzius renders the scene with a controlled, linear precision that extends the Mannerist idiom into early Baroque clarity. Figures and landscape are articulated through crisp contours and smooth, enamel-like glazes, while the handling of light and shadow remains evenly diffused rather than dramatically tenebrist.
The composition centers on Adam and Eve beneath a gnarled apple tree, their gestures and expressions conveying restrained tension rather than overt drama. The foliage and rocky foreground are described with meticulous detail, yet the overall tonality stays within a restrained palette of browns and greens, heightening the work’s graphic clarity.
History & Provenance
The painting Fall of Man was created in 1608 by Hendrick Goltzius, as recorded in the artwork's metadata. It was painted in the Netherlands and executed in oil on panel, measuring 203.5 cm in height and 134 cm in width. The work entered the collection of Catherine II of Russia, who commissioned its acquisition for the Hermitage Museum, where it remains housed today.
Hendrik Goltzius's 1608 oil painting Fall of Man is held in the Hermitage Museum. The work entered the imperial collection through Catherine II of Russia, who owned it prior to its transfer into the museum. It is catalogued as a Dutch-made religious panel painting, measuring 203.5 cm in height by 134 cm in width, and depicts the biblical fall of Adam and Eve beneath the tree.
No exhibition history beyond its placement in the Hermitage collection is documented in the available sources.
Context
Hendrik Goltzius painted The Fall of Man in 1608, a religious work depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden alongside an apple tree. Executed in oil on panel, the piece measures 203.5 cm by 134 cm and was created in the Netherlands. It entered the collection of Catherine II of Russia and is now housed in the Hermitage Museum.
The work is categorized as a religious painting and holds significance within Goltzius's oeuvre as a Northern Renaissance artist known for his engravings and paintings. Contemporary scholarship situates it within the religious art tradition of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, reflecting Counter-Reformation themes through its dramatic composition and theological subject matter.
Overview
Created in 1608, Fall of Man is an oil painting by Hendrick Goltzius, a Dutch artist of German origin. Executed in the Northern Mannerist idiom, the work presents a mythic scene of the biblical first humans amid a lush woodland. The painting is part of the State Hermitage Museum’s collection in St. Petersburg.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Hendrick Goltzius (German: , Dutch: ; né Goltz; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter.
![The Fall of Man [middle panel]](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/the-fall-of-man-middle-panel--51048cc74e2325c7-w320.webp)
