Adam en Eva voor de Boom der Kennis van goed en kwaad

This Mannerist engraving depicts the biblical first couple in a lush landscape before their transgression. Eve points toward the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge while Adam looks on, their elongated and elegant forms characteristic of the Haarlem style. An eagle, often a symbol of divine sight or the soul, sits prominently in the foreground, while a small scene in the distance illustrates the creation of Eve.

In the Western esoteric tradition, the Fall of Adam is often interpreted as the descent of the primordial Anthropos into the material realm. The inscription refers to the Creator as 'Rerum opifex' (the Maker of things), a term echoing the Platonic Demiurge and the Hermetic Mind, reflecting the syncretic intellectual environment of the Haarlem Mannerists.