Symbolism
Adam and Eve are shown in the Garden of Eden. As the image is a depiction of humanity before the Fall, everything remains in perfect harmony. Placed directly between the pair of figures stands a fig tree, the Tree of Knowledge, but is represented here, as was usual, as a hybrid since the fruit of the tree is apple. Eve is offered a fruit by the snake and holds in her left hand already one tied to a broken branch with fig leaves that cover her genitals. It is a direct reference to the shame that Adam and Eve would experience after the Fall, as described in Genesis 3:7: "And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons." The Forbidden Fruit in her left (sinister in Latin) hand, that she is about to share with Adam, symbolizes evil. Adam's genitals are covered by a shoot of a mountain ash that frames the left side of the picture. The tree symbolizes the Tree of Life.
On the tree above the plaque with Dürer's autograph sits a parrot. Since around 1500 Dürer had an increased interest in animals and plants, of which he made many drawings and watercolors. The famous Great Piece of Turf for example, the Young Hare, and the Wing of a Blue Roller are from that time, but also a drawing of a parrot, that very much resembles the one in the engraving.
Parrots can symbolize different ideas, including: wisdom, the Word of God, Christ, eternal life, and paradise. But it could also refer to the New World. At this time, the colonization of the New World was in full swing and certain objects from the Americas came to symbolize paradise, as Europeans had come to believe paradise would be found in the Americas. Thus, certain objects that originated from the New World became common symbols of paradise in art, a possible meaning for the parrot represented here. Moreover, it is known through his diary writings that Dürer saw and even collected exotic items from the East (the Orient), as well as the Americas while on trips to both Italy and Flanders. Some of these marvelous objects included a large fishbone, porcelain dishes from China, while other items like cloths (some made out of silk), feathers, an ivory salt-cellar came from "Calicut," which in the Renaissance was a catch-all term that could reference India, Africa or the Americas, indicating a geographical misunderstanding of the wider world.
Around Adam and Eve lie four animals representing the four humors or temperaments. The cat symbolizes the choleric humor, the rabbit the sanguine (from Latin sanguineus, "of blood": vivacious) temperament, the ox phlegmatic humor, while the elk represents melancholy. Although the contemporary belief was that an imbalance of bodily fluids caused undesirable humors, in Eden, everything is in perfect harmony. Visually, this is represented by the peaceful cohabitant nature of the animals: the cat is not pouncing on the mouse, the ox is sitting calmly. This representation of balanced harmony, however, would be forever destroyed once the Fall occurred. Finally, the relationship of the mouse and feline at the feet of the figures parallels that of Adam and Eve.
The small plaque (cartellino in Italian) is his first inscription in an engraving written in Latin, it reads "Albert Dürer noricvs faciebat 1504," which translates to "Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg was making [this in] 1504." Despite Dürer's fascination with Italian art, this inscription demonstrates his pride regarding his Northern heritage, clearly identifying his hometown as the German city of Nuremberg (Noricus in Latin). Moreover, Dürer is subtly flaunting the immortality of his work since the plaque is attached to the Tree of Life.
Dürer's treatment of the theme followed in 1510 with a light but intimate ink drawing, where Adam and Eve are unusually shown from behind, turned away from the viewer, embracing each other. They are depicted as lovers and about to share a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The figure of Eve with her crossed legs relates to the images of the Fall and the Expulsion from Paradise featured in the Small Passion. But in the Fall Eve is turned around again, while in the Expulsion the figures are in motion. The snake which the lovers ignore has a female torso instead of its head, an Italian motif.
