The Fall of Man

This engraving depicts the biblical Fall of Man, characterized by the muscular, athletic figures typical of Hendrick Goltzius's Mannerist style. A female-headed serpent coils around the central tree, handing an apple to Eve while Adam reaches out to receive it. The foreground and midground are densely populated with a menagerie of animals including a lion, a hedgehog, and a mysterious two-headed dog, reflecting the harmony of creation before the lapse.

In Western esoteric traditions like Hermeticism and Kabbalah, the Fall of Adam (Adam Kadmon) represents the descent of the divine 'Anthropos' or primordial man from a spiritual state into the world of matter and duality. This print captures the pivotal moment of transition from timeless unity to the world of time, labor, and the 'garments of skin' (the physical body).