Maerten van Heemskerck Lot n° 8

(Heemskerk 1498–1574 Haarlem) Adam and Eve, oil on panel, 108 x 71.5 cm, framed Provenance: with Robert Finck, Brussels; with Jan de Maere, Brussels; sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 1 March 1994, lot 78; Private collection, Austria Literature: P. Gurdijan and S. Beguin, Femmes Chefs d’ Oeuvre, Paris 1991 The present painting is inspired by a copper engraving by Albrecht Dürer. It is an early work by the famous Haarlem-based painter, who spent several years in Rome, where he was heavily influenced by Michelangelo. This is revealed by the firmly (and in Adam’s case athletically) modelled bodies, with their Mannerist tension and pose as compared to Dürer’s relaxed, even ‘lyrical’ figures of the first human couple. Type, posture, and painting style of the Michelangelesque representation of Christ in The Triumph of Christ over Death and the Devil are closely related to the depiction of Adam, while Venus in The Judgement of Paris is reminiscent of Eve in the present painting.