Ashmolean The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin’s teaching collection at Oxford

The print illustrates the Fall of Man, as told in Genesis III.1-6: Eve holds the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (a fig tree) towards Adam in her right hand, having just been given it by the serpent coiled around the Tree. They are accompanied by a parrot, an elk, an ox, a rabbit, a cat and a mouse; Adam grasps an elder tree.

Ruskin considered this to be Dürer's 'best plate in point of execution, and in that respect unrivalled': every line in the work was doing 'the most and truest work' (Catalogue of Examples). In "Ariadne Florentina" (§§ 128-9 = XXII.381-2), he described it as one of the best works of Renaissance print-making, using the black lines and white paper to great effect; but the closeness of Dürer's effects to chiaroscuro rendered it inferior to work dependent for its effect upon outline, such as Baccio Baldini's engravings to Botticelli's designs. Later (§ 169 = XXII.413), it exemplified the effects that could be obtained with a proper knowledge of anatomy. In "The Stones of Venice", he described how Dürer's melancholic temperament elevated any imperfection, playfulness or apathy in his work to 'nobler terribleness' and 'perfect sublime': the depiction of Adam's head and the various animals demonstrated how the grotesque and melancholy could, as the artist became more knowledgeable, reach the level of the sublime (Stones of Venice, vol. III, ch. iii, § 51 = XI.172-3).

The sprig of elder above Adam's shoulder was copied (without the parrot) and reproduced as the top part of a plate showing 'Leafage by Durer and Veronese', "Modern Painters", vol. V, pl. 57 = VII, f.p. 89.