Jeffrey LuongAHS-007Professor Goux8/22/2014

Albrecht Durer, a famous prominent German artist in the 16th century of the Northern Renaissance era, created the following art piece. Durer titled the artwork, Adam and Eve representing the very famous story of the creation of man in the book of Genesis. This artwork was done just in the beginning of the 16th century, in the year 1501 of the Renaissance period. Durer created the artwork using the medium of engraving, specifically, the technique of copper engraving in black and white. This piece however, is presented as a print from copper graving in the size of 9 X 7 (25.1 X 19.4 cm).Durer first exhibits the artwork by catching the viewers eyes in black and white shade with two unclothed humans, a man and woman, both covered by leaves in the crouch region. Following the two major subjects of the art piece, he places several different animals in the back all surrounding the man and woman, whom I believe are Adam and Eve. These animals include a mouse under Adam between the his feet, a cat placed on the ground right in the center of the artwork facing towards the mouse, a rabbit behind the cat and Eves foot, facing towards an ox laying on the ground, an elk in the center behind a tree split down the middle of the artwork with a snake on the same tree, a bird which seems much like a parrot on a branch held by Adam also containing a sign hanging from the same branch, and a tiny goat on the edge of the mountain in the viewers top right. In the composition of Adam and Eve, I first noticed the colors Durer illustrated. He used a dark grey and black shade encasing the shadowy forest in the background, and a white light grey shade for the humans. The artwork contained no other colors. Secondly, I noticed the artwork had an asymmetrical balance with Adam and Eve placed mirroring each other containing different poses with a tree placed right in the center of the artwork representing the symmetry. The placement of Adam and Eve along with the forest and animals also give the artwork a 3D representation because of the spatial depths among all the subjects. The cat is placed closest while the tiny goat on the mountain edge is placed furthers from the viewers perception. Third, the artwork was very detailed, as it possessed naturalistic features such as the lines of abdomens in the humans, the curly lines in the hair of Adam and Eve, the tiny fig leaves along the skinny branches, the curly scuffs of fur on the elk and the detailed skin of all the animals. I believe Durer created this as a conceptual artwork with a historic style. There are many objects in the image that hide a symbolic value. First, the overall image depicts an image from the story of Adam and Eve in the creation of man in the Book of Genesis. The viewer can see Eve carrying the infamous forbidden apple that God warned Adam not to eat. Secondly, the animals may possess a hidden meaning among the artwork as it depicts an image from Adam and Eve. After researching, I have conluded the cat depicts aggression, the ox depicts slow and languid, the elk depicts seriousness, the rabbit depicts lively and sensuous (Noble). I also believe the snake depicts the slyness and sin of humans as it seems as if it is handing the forbidden fruit to Eve. Durers choice of nudity in the artwork also can symbolize the true nature of how humans are, just as God created man. Durer places a sign hanging from the branch held by Adam, with his full name signed in Latin (Marx). The artwork also seems to be in perfect balance as the cat is not pouncing on the mouse, and the animals are not frightened by the Adam and Eve (Noble).

Works CitedCagno, Gabriella Di, Simone Boni, and L. R. Galante. Michelangelo. New York: Peter Bedrick, 1996. Print.Harris, Beth, Dr., and Steven Zucker, Dr. "Michelangelo's Moses." Moses. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2014.Kim, Elice. "Art History Presentation Archive." : Michelangelos Tomb for Pope Julius II. N.p., 11 Sept. 2007. Web. 19 Aug. 2014.Ruehring, Lauren Mitchell. "HowStuffWorks "Moses by Michelangelo"" HowStuffWorks. N.p., 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 19 Aug. 2014.