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A coeur perdu

Félicien Joseph Victor Rops

A coeur perdu

1888

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Félicien Joseph Victor Rops

A coeur perdu

1888

Physical Qualities Photomechanical reproduction (heliogravure), softground etching, Sheet: 239 x 167 mm. (9 7/16 x 6 9/16 in.) Plate: 190 x 145 mm. (7 1/2 x 5 11/16 in.)
Credit Line The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number 1996.48.3019
For millennia, Eve has been portrayed as leading Adam to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, despite God’s prohibition. Beham’s print shows Eve extending the fruit toward Adam. Eve’s other hand covers her sex, connecting female sexuality with suffering and death, represented by the skeleton standing between them. Rembrandt’s interpretation casts Eve clearly as the instigator, offering Adam the fruit despite his gesture reminding her of God. In Rops’ image, Eve is alone with the tree and serpent. The phrase in the branches that reads eritis similes deo (“you shall be like God”) suggests that in her reach for divine knowledge, Eve condemned herself and humanity to eternal suffering in their banishment from the Garden of Eden. A. Banta, (Women Behaving Badly: 400 Years of Power and Protest), July 18, 2021 - December 19, 2021.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art, through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
Andaleeb Banta, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Women Behaving Badly: 400 Years of Power and Protest," July 18 - December 19, 2021.

Inscribed: Signed in red pencil: lower center "F. R." Signed in plate: lower center "F. Rops" Inscribed in plate: upper center "ERITIS SIMILES DEO"

Markings: Collector's stamp: verso "M.I. / LUCAS / COLLECTION" (Lugt 1695c)

Explore the Collection Further

Félicien Joseph Victor Rops
Title page for A. Delvau's 'Le Grand et le Petit Trottoir'
Published 1866
Charles Émile Jacque and Lamoureux
Crevecoeur Rooster and Chickens
n.d.
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops and J. Bouwens
The Drinker
1867, published 1869
Alexandre Évariste Fragonard, Godefroy Engelmann, and others
Eglise de la ville d'Eu, vue laterale du coeur
1822
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops and Eudes
Dans la Püsta
1879, published 1885
Thomas Stiltz
Perdue Chicken Processing Plant, Salisbury.
1980
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops
The Olive Gatherer
1876
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops and Ph. Ham
Parlez-nous de lui, grand'mère…
1857
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops and Eudes
La Foire aux amours
1884
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops and Veuve A. Cadart
À Monaco
1876, published 1877
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops and J. Bouwens
La mère Gand et le fils Charles
1867-1869
Félicien Joseph Victor Rops
La mère Gand et le fils Charles
1867, later printing