Lot 253: Friedrich Karl Steinhardt (German, b. 1844)

The Birth of Eve
signed and inscribed 'Steinhardt Roma' (lower right)
oil on canvas
117 x 79 1/2 in. (297 x 201 cm.)

Friedrich Karl Steinhardt was born in Frankfurt in 1844. He began his artistic training at the Art Institute of Frankfurt under Jakob Becker. Steinhard continued his studies in Brussels and Paris, before traveling to Vienna (1873) and Rome (1877-9) where he is recorded to have been active as a painter.

The Birth of Eve is both a hugely ambitious undertaking and a testament to Steinhardt's extensive academic training as an artist. Compositional elements suggest the influence of Michalengelo's mural, The Creation of Adam, in the Sistine Chapel, but perhaps the strongest inspiration was Alexandre Cabanel's Le Paradis Perdu (fig. 1) of 1867. Cabanel's monumental painting was commissioned by King Louis II of Bavaria and it was greatly esteemed at the Exposition Universelle in 1867. This sort of international acclaim and German patronage would set the benchmark for any aspiring young artist at the time. In Steinhardt's The Birth of Eve the figure of Adam mirrors the reclining position of Eve in Cabanel's Le Paradis Perdu. Additionally, the figure of God appears in both paintings amidst billowing red fabric supported by winged angels (Cabanel) and winged putti (Steinhardt). Furthermore, in Steinhardt's depiction numerous symbols foretelling the initial sin are carefully planted into the composition, such as the apple being exchanged by a female and a male cherub in the lower right, the serpent in the upper left, and certainly the most vivid expression of sexuality is demonstrated in Adam's pose.

(fig 1.) Alexandre Cabanel, La Paradis Perdu, Private Collection.