The Fall of Man with Scenes of the Creation
Augustus Cordus·1544
Historical Context
Augustus Cordus painted The Fall of Man with Scenes of the Creation in 1544, a complex composition combining the narrative of Genesis with panoramic landscape. Cordus was a German-Netherlandish painter whose rare surviving works show the influence of the Antwerp Mannerist tradition. The encyclopedic treatment of the Creation story, set within an elaborate landscape, reflects the Northern European love of didactic, densely packed compositions.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel combines detailed figure painting with an expansive landscape setting that accommodates multiple narrative episodes. The Mannerist figure types and the rich, detailed landscape demonstrate the Northern European tradition of combining religious narrative with the wonder of the natural world.
Provenance
John Warne Gates (d. 1911), Chicago and New York; by descent to his widow, Dellora Baker Gates (d. 1918); by descent to her niece Dellora Angell Norris, St. Charles, Ill.; on loan to the AIC on her behalf from her father, R. F. Angell, from 1923, as by Albrecht Dürer [registrar’s receipt, May 18, 1923]; given by her to the AIC, 1970.
