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Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileGod the Father stands within swirling clouds, gesturing toward a standing Eve who emerges while Adam remains in a deep sleep in the foreground. In the background, Adam is shown a second time, walking through the Garden of Eden among a lion, an elephant, and other animals. The circular composition is characterized by the complex, swelling line work typical of Hendrick Goltzius.
This work reflects the Renaissance Neoplatonic interest in the 'Adam Kadmon' or the primordial human. The division of the sexes from the original unified Adam was frequently interpreted by esoteric thinkers as a pivotal stage in the descent of the soul into the material world.
Dies VI. HG. excud.
Translation
Day 6. HG. printed (it).
Corpus Hermeticum
The Poimandres describes the creation of a 'Man' according to the image of God who subsequently becomes divided into male and female.
Jakob Böhme
Böhme's later mystical writings extensively analyze the 'Sleep of Adam' and the subsequent division of the sexes as a cosmic-spiritual event.
Object
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Engraving
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC0
This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy
Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
3562 × 3564 px
23ddf222f9f8d274e9270706655bf018b21ee9b6
July 11, 2017
March 23, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.