The Fall thumbnail 1
The Fall thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 64, The Wolfson Gallery

The Fall

Figure Group
ca. 1530-1535 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a relief in Solnhofen limestone made by Loy Hering in about 1530-1535 in Eichstätt in the Franconian area of South Germany. It depicts the Fall of Man. Loy Hering (about 1485 - about 1554) worked in Eichstätt for nearly forty years. In Eichstätt, as in Augsburg, Nuremberg and numerous other South German cities, there existed a great demand for small-scale sculptures in materials such as Solnhofen stone. The composition, showing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, is adapted from a woodcut by Hans Baldung Green, dated 1511.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Fall (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Solnhofen limestone, carved in relief
Brief description
Relief, The Fall, Loy Hering, carved Solnhofen limestone, Franconian (Eichstätt), ca. 1530-1535
Physical description
Adam and Eve are standing on ground that slopes upwards to a group of three trees behind them. Lush foliage and fruit grow round the tree trunk, and the serpent appears above them in one of the trees. Eve is represented frontally, her long hair streaming behind her. She is standing in a contrapposto pose, resting on her left leg. With her right hand she delicately holds a fig-leaf to cover her nudity, while with her raised left hand she is offering an apple to Adam who stands slightly behind her, reaching with his right hand for another apple.
Dimensions
  • Height: 38.7cm
  • Width: 25.4cm
  • Depth: 4cm
  • Weight: 3.54kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Object history
Bought from Mr G. Brooks, London, in 1869.

Historical significance: The composition is adapted from a woodcut by Hans Baldung Green, dated 1511. Hering significantly changed Baldung Green's interpretation of the Fall in the woodcut. In the present relief Adam is gazing slightly upwards instead of looking at the spectator and places his hand below Eve's breast, rather than delicately touching it as in the woodcut. Here Adam and Eve seem to be in communion, whereas in the woodcut Adam seems to present Eve to the spectator.
Historical context
The relief may have formed part of a cabinet of curiosities.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is a relief in Solnhofen limestone made by Loy Hering in about 1530-1535 in Eichstätt in the Franconian area of South Germany. It depicts the Fall of Man. Loy Hering (about 1485 - about 1554) worked in Eichstätt for nearly forty years. In Eichstätt, as in Augsburg, Nuremberg and numerous other South German cities, there existed a great demand for small-scale sculptures in materials such as Solnhofen stone. The composition, showing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, is adapted from a woodcut by Hans Baldung Green, dated 1511.
Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington, Acquired During the Year 1869, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., p. 32
  • Bange, E. F. Die Kleinplastik der deutschen Renaissance in Holz und Stein. Munich, 1928, pl. 20a
  • von der Osten, G and H. Vey. Painting and Sculpture in Germany and the Netherlands 1500-1600. Pelican History of Art. 1969, p. 258, pl. 242
  • Cannon-Brookes, P. Loy Hering and the Monogrammist DH. Apollo. July 1971, XCIV, no. 113, p. 46, fig. 2
  • Baxandall, Michael. South German Sculpture 1480-1530. London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1974, cat. no. 18
  • Jopek, Norbert. German Sculpture 1430-1540: A Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2002, pp. 65-66, cat. no. 21
Collection
Accession number
427-1869

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Record createdJuly 29, 2008
Record URL
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