the earthly paradise

visual art

The Vatican Museums display the monumental painting by Johann Wenzel Peters Adam and Eve in the Earthly Paradise (1827). It represents the mythical first man and woman in a pastorale, alongside some 250 other animals. It is actually a perfect example of the way the 19th century imagined and represented untouched nature.

David Weber-Krebs uses this work in order to reflect on how to apprehend the idea of nature now, some two centuries later, when it is said that the two iconic humans in the painting of Peters’ have »touched« the planet they live on to an extent, that they have altered it forever.

The Earthly Paradise has been displayed in the Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg, from 26 march to 1 may 2017.

    flyer of the installation The Earthly Paradise
    the program leaflet of Depot Erbe

G. SACCHETTI., “Adamo ed Eva nel Paradiso terrestre di Venceslao Peter nella Pinacoteca Vaticana”, in: Bollettino Monumenti Musei e Gallerie Pontificie, XI (1991), pp. 179-187.

    dossier about the satellite picture
    Johann Wenzel Peter, Adam and Eve in the Earthly Paradise, between 1800 and 1829, oil on canvas, Vatican Museum.
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