Fotoreproductie van een prent, voorstellende Adam beschuldigt Eva van de Zondeval before 1876

This photograph reproduces a print, by an anonymous artist. It represents Adam accusing Eve of the Fall. The image is small, about 8 by 12 centimeters, and is bound into a book. The story of the Fall, as told in Genesis, had a tremendous impact on Western culture, shaping ideas about gender roles, temptation, sin, and the relationship between humanity and the divine. In most interpretations of the Bible, Eve bears most of the blame. Here, Adam's gesture reinforces this tradition of laying the blame for original sin at Eve’s door. The image creates meaning through visual codes and cultural references. It draws on the long history of biblical illustration while reflecting the social and cultural context in which it was made. To understand this image better, a historian might study the circulation of such images in nineteenth-century Europe, asking how this photograph of a print, bound in a book, participated in the public role of art.