02 Works , RELIGIOUS ART, Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder's The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man - with footnotes #203

Peter Paul Rubens  (1577–1640) and Jan Brueghel the Elder  (1568–1625)

The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, circa 1615

Oil on panel

height: 74.3 cm (29.2 in); width: 114.7 cm (45.1 in)

Mauritshuis 

The scene is a reference to Genesis 2:8–14 and hosts a variety of animals, presumably 100, from diverse ecosystems. There is a Capuchin Monkey from South America, hidden to the left, who bites into an apple to symbolize the sin about the be committed by Adam and Eve. Since Adam has yet to commit the original sin, these creatures all live in harmony – a cow peacefully watches while two large cats play. Birds of Paradise are also painted with a scientific accuracy. Up until the time of this painting, these birds were believed to lack feet, and in this painting, they are depicted clearly. This was a modernistic move on Bruegel’s behalf.

Peter Paul Rubens  (1577–1640) and Jan Brueghel the Elder  (1568–1625)

Detail; The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, circa 1615

Oil on panel

height: 74.3 cm (29.2 in); width: 114.7 cm (45.1 in)

Mauritshuis 

The monkey next to Adam is the hotspur who cannot resist temptation, while the choleric cat near Eve's heels represents cruel cunning In Christian symbolism, several grapes in the foliage behind Adam and Eve represent Christ's death on the cross, as wine represents his blood. A plethora of exotic birds such as peacocks and macaws spectate Adam's detrimental demise.

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England.  More Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collaborator with Peter Paul Rubens, the two artists were the leading Flemish painters in the first three decades of the 17th century.

Brueghel worked in many genres including history paintings, flower still lifes, allegorical and mythological scenes, landscapes and seascapes, hunting pieces, village scenes, battle scenes and scenes of hellfire and the underworld. Brueghel represented the type of the pictor doctus, the erudite painter whose works are informed by the religious motifs and aspirations of the Catholic Counter-Reformation as well as the scientific revolution with its interest in accurate description and classification.

The artist was nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel. The first is believed to have been given him because of his mastery in the rendering of fabrics.[7] The second nickname is a reference to his fame as a painter of (although not a specialist in) flower pieces and the last one to his invention of the genre of the paradise landscape. His brother Pieter Brueghel the Younger was traditionally nicknamed "de helse Brueghel" or "Hell Brueghel" because it was believed he was the author of a number of paintings with fantastic depictions of fire and grotesque imagery. These paintings have now been reattributed to Jan Brueghel the Elder. More on Jan Brueghel

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