The Fall of Man

Details

Circle of Jacob de Backer (Antwerp c. 1540/5- c. 1595)
The Fall of Man
inscribed 'ILLUSUS BLANDO DIRI SERMONE COLVBRIS HVMANU PRMVS PERDIS ADAME GENVS.' (lower edge)
oil on panel
106.8 x 73.8 cm.

Provenance

Baron von Silivini, until circa 1948, as Cornelis van Haarlem.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The composition is partly based on an engraving by Agostino Carracci (see D. DeGrazia Bohlin, Prints and related drawings by the Carracci family: A Catalogue Raisonné, Washington, 1979, pp. 110-1, no. 25).
However, the appearance of the skeleton comes from the Northern iconographic tradition, and can be found in prints by artists such as Hans Sebald Beham.

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