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Adam and Eve by Albrecht Durer
Adam and Eve by Albrecht Durer
The summer homework was to look at the print of Adam and Eve by Albrecht Durer and to research, analyse and develop a project based on the print.
One of the first things I noticed were the hidden animals through out the print. After that I began researching the piece to find out more about it.
Here are my sketchbook pages on the research I did.
Some points to pick up on : There is a lot of contradiction in Durer's Adam and Eve. From Eve picking an apple from a fig tree to the stances of the bodies compared with their heads.
It's not based in the 'pretty' Garden of Eden like in the Bible, rather in a dark German themed forest.
The Forms
The Forms
Durer concentrated the forms and proportions on the Greek statues of Apollo and Venus. Durer was obsessed with getting the 'correct' proportions and measurements of the ideal human body.
He referred to Da Vinci's Human Figure in a Circle when looking at proportions.
When looking at the forms, especially Eve's who is drawn muscular, it is the opposite of how women were portrayed during the renaissance. They were always portrayed 'chubbier' to show that they could afford to eat, were healthy, wealthy and fertile. This brings me back to the thought of an 'idyllic' body form isn't what everyone actually wants.
Finding an interest
Finding an interest
As the animals where one of the first aspects I noticed of the print I decided to delve deeper and research what they represented.
The animal that most took my interest was the parrot. A tropical bird in a European setting is strange but not unusual for paintings/prints of the time. The parrot immediately got me thinking about linking my interests of my culture to this project.
My blog post on 'Parrots' continues the journey of this project.
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