Currently not on view

Adam,

1505–09

Marcantonio Raimondi, Italian, ca. 1480–ca. 1534
after Albrecht Dürer, 1471–1528; born and died Nuremberg, Germany
x1945-47

One of the most celebrated Italian Renaissance printmakers, Raimondi carefully studied ancient sculpture and Dürer’s prints. In this sketch after Dürer’s 1504 engraving of Adam and Eve, Raimondi altered the proportions and stance of the athletic Adam while creatively converting him into a classical and handless statue.

During his stay in Venice in 1506, Dürer famously took Raimondi to court for copying some of his religious woodcuts as engravings and appropriating his monogram—thus initiating one of the first documented disputes over intellectual property. The court ruled that although Raimondi could continue to make copies of Dürer’s prints, Dürer had exclusive copyright to his monogram.

More About This Object

Information

Title
Adam
Dates

1505–09

Medium

Pen and brown ink

Dimensions

19.5 × 10.9 cm (7 11/16 × 4 5/16 in.)
frame: 54.8 × 41.9 × 3.5 cm (21 9/16 × 16 1/2 × 1 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.

Object Number
x1945-47
Inscription

in graphite, verso upper left: L 15
in graphite, upper right: P/220

Reference Numbers
Gibbons 506
Culture
Type
Materials

Victor Litta, Milan;

Carlo Prayer [Lugt 2044].

Frank Jewett Mather Jr.[Lugt 1853a];

Gift to the Princeton University Art Museum