A pair of oil paintings by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer depicting Adam and Eve at human scale went back on display at Madrid’s Prado Museum Wednesday after a two-year restoration.
In a statement posted on its website, the museum said the two works would be featured in a special exhibition display in order to draw public attention to the complex work done in both panels.
The restoration was undertaken by a team of international experts in a project coordinated between the Prado and the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles, it added.
The works were painted by Durer in 1507 in Nuremberg shortly after his return from Venice and they were clearly influenced by Italian art.
The coloring is muted, and he models the bodies with the help of light and shadow, making the biblical figures emerge from the dark background.
Eve is depicted standing next to the Tree of Knowledge with one foot behind the other while she accepts an apple offered by a coiled snake.
Adam appears in the adjoining panel with his head inclined towards Eve and the fingers of his right hand stretched out.
The paintings arrived at the Prado in 1827 but were not publicly displayed until six years later.
