Adam and Eve with Serpent

Hans Baldung Grien

National Gallery of Art

This is a print of two humans and a snake in a forest setting. The central focus is on a tree with a large serpent coiling around its trunk, its head lowered and its mouth wide open, looking towards a person on the left. To the left and right of the tree stand two nude people, with a man on the left and a woman on the right. The man appears to hold something small behind his back, and his other hand is raised, as if he is speaking with the serpent. On the right, the woman reaches up to pick a piece of fruit from the tree above. The background is filled with trees and foliage, etched in a dense, textured style. The lower right corner features a monogram.