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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
The Fall of Man
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

The Fall of Man

Artist/Maker (The Netherlands, 1562-1638)
Datenot dated
Mediumoil on panel
DimensionsSight: 13 x 9 5/8 in. (33 x 24.4 cm)
Framed: 21 1/2 x 17 7/8 x 2 1/2 in. (54.6 x 45.4 x 6.4 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of Colonel C. Michael Paul
Terms
    Object number66.001.004
    DescriptionAccording to P. J. J. van Thiel of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, this painting appears to be based on "The Fall of Man," engraved by Jan Saenredam (1565-1607), after Cornelis van Haarlem. While faithful in many other particulars, the painter of the Lowe's version left out the frog and the figures of Adam and Eve in the background. I. E. Panofsky, in "Gods, Saints and Heroes," comments that the original Cornelisz van Haarlem painting of 1592, "The Fall of Man," may be based on Albrect Durer's 1504 engraving "Fall of Man." The animals in the painting have a symbolic function. The dog is the good teacher who watches over the human spirit and punishes people's sins. The choleric cat on Adam's side (on Eve's side in the 1592 Cornelisz van Haarlem version) is the symbol of her cunning cruelty.
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