Studieblad med fire udkast til figurerne "Eva" og ”Sovende pige" 1938 - 1942

Svend Rathsack sketched these four figures of "Eva" and a "Sleeping Girl" with graphite on paper. The figure of Eve is laden with symbolism: the first woman, the bearer of original sin. Here, Eve isn't depicted with an apple, but with a mysterious bunch of grapes, a symbol that takes us to the classical world, to Bacchus, the god of wine and ecstasy. Notice the gesture of covering her face in all four sketches, reminiscent of classical depictions of Venus Pudica, or modest Venus. This gesture, repeated across centuries, speaks to a collective memory of shame and vulnerability, an echo of Eve's transgression in the Garden of Eden, and also of Aphrodite's surprise birth. The visual language of covering oneself speaks to a deep, subconscious understanding of human frailty. The image of Eve is a potent reminder of humanity's continuous negotiation between innocence and experience. And so, the serpent sheds its skin, reappearing across time with new, yet familiar guises.