The Expulsion from Paradise
Artist
Sebald Beham
German, 1500-1550
Date1543
MediumEngraving on laid paper
DimensionsImage Size: 3 3/16 x 2 1/4 in. (8.1 x 5.7 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineGift in memory of Leon H. and Marie Buttlar Sparling by their family
Object number2008.20.3
On View
Not on viewCollections
- Works on Paper
SignedMonogram printed in the lower left of the plate, in a rectangular tablet with black line border that overlays the plate but protrudes below it on the lower edge. The monogram is the letters H and B with the right upright of the H forming the vertical of the B, between these two large letters is a small S at the center of the horizontal element of the H.
Above the monogram is the date "1543"
InscribedOn the reverse of the image. Printed in pencil "ADAM and Eve DRIVEN/ FROM THE GARDEN/ OF EDEN"; a cruciform inscription with notes in each quadrant, in the ul = "35969", ur = rba [in script], lr = Ca; ll = ba [the first letter might be a p]; below this in script "H.S. Beham"; below this B.7., below this APG 7061; below this HOLL 6. To the left of these and very lightly inscribed "1338 [or 88?].
"$3000" in upper right of outer front mat, in pencil.
Inside the mat printed in pencil: at the lower left, "ex collections/Erich von Rath (Lugt 2721)/Richard Lachmanski (L. 22236); at the center, "Hans Sebald Beham/(1500-1550)/[underlined]The Expulsion from Paradise/(1543)/Bartsch 7/Pauli 8 111/111(or iii?); lower right after Michelangelo/Genesis 3"
Also in the lower right of the inner mat a printed adhesive label "In online exhibition/"Sacred Images from/Scripture, Legend & History"
MarkingsTwo marks printed in purple ink on the lower right reverse of the image: a heraldic device consisiting of a shield with light diagonal bar on a dark ground with a knight's helmet as the crest, surmounted by two turreted towers flanking a smaller tower. The second printed mark is a square with block printed letters "RL".
DescriptionThree standing nude figures; Eve at the right turning to look back over her right shoulder and clenches her hands together as she looks at at Adam and the figure to his left driving them out of the Garden of Eden. Adam, at the center has his back to the viewer and holds his bent left arm up to shield his face from the clouds of smoke/flame that come from the mouth of the male figure at left. Adam holds an apple in his right hand. The smoke/fire breathing figure (God? Angel?) holds a sword over his head. Smoke clouds swirl in the background of the image at the center and behind Eve's head as well as forming a bank of clouds at their feet. A small winged putto head looks up from the lower right.The bodies of Adam and Eve are strongly outlined against the smoke pushing them forward in the composition while the sword-yielding figure melds with the dark ground. The figures are largely modeled with stippling, rather than crosshatching, giving making them a more natural, fleshy human quality.Exhibition HistoryDealers (C & J Goodfriends) online exhibition "Sacred Images from Scripture, Legend and History" and viewable at websitehttp://www.drawingsandprints.com/CurrentExhibition/exhibition_page.cfm?Exhibition=23 ]
and also in their online exhibtion "Sixteenth-century Northern Engraving and Etching from Germany, the Netherlands and France"
http://www.drawingsandprints.com/CurrentExhibition/exhibition_page.cfm?Exhibition=10
"Old Master Prints from the Sparling Family Collection", Hoopes Gallery, The Hyde Collection, February 28 - May 24, 2009.ProvenanceNew York, NY, C & J Goodfriend (print dealers)
2006, Houston, TX, Tobin Sparling
2008, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust
