I was struck by the novelty of the way he'd arranged Adam & Eve ... and guessed there would be something there that I could not see ... so I asked the question of ChatGPT ...
Q. Is there a well-informed discussion of the iconography of claude mellan's pair of engravings showing adam and eve beneath the crucifixion ?
Worked for 11s
"Yes. There is some worthwhile scholarship on Claude Mellan's Adam and Eve at the Foot of the Cross (c. 1647), although I suspect that the iconographic interpretation deserves considerably more attention than it has received.
The most useful starting point is the engraving itself, which is in the collections of both the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
One particularly interesting feature is the Latin inscription on the tablet. It quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, commanding Israel to love God with all one's heart, soul and mind. Another inscription quotes Ephesians 2:14: Ipse enim est pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum – "For he himself is our peace, who has made both one."
Those inscriptions are important: Mellan is not simply illustrating the Fall of Man. He is bringing together the Fall, the Crucifixion, reconciliation and the restoration of humanity.
An important bibliographical discovery: it is a two-sheet composition
I have found something that helps explain your reference to a pair of engravings.
Mellan conceived the work as a large composition in two sheets:
The upper sheet: Christ on the Cross (1647), catalogue reference IFF 22.
The lower sheet: Adam and Eve at the Foot of the Cross, IFF 23.
The two sheets were intended to be joined. The Museum of Kassel has a particularly useful catalogue entry which explicitly describes the two-part arrangement and records the original dedication to Louis XIV. Museum of Kassel – Christ on the Cross, 1647.
This is significant because the relationship between the two sheets is essential to interpreting the work. Adam and Eve are not simply incidental figures placed beneath a Crucifixion: the entire arrangement makes the relationship between the Fall and the redemption of humanity its subject.
The iconographic questions worth pursuing
There are several layers here.
Christ as the second Adam. The Crucifixion reverses the consequences of the first Adam's disobedience. This is the familiar Pauline theological tradition, particularly Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15:21–22, 45.
The redemption of Eve. The presence of Eve alongside Adam raises the question of whether Mellan is giving particular emphasis to the restoration of the first woman, rather than simply using her as an accessory to the Fall.
Death and mortality. The skeleton, chains and unusual postures of the couple make the consequences of the Fall physically present. The relationship between eroticism, mortality and redemption is particularly striking.
The inscriptions. The quotation from Ephesians 2:14, about Christ making the two one, suggests a reconciliation extending beyond the immediate story of Adam and Eve. The Deuteronomy quotation introduces the obligation to love God with the whole person.
There is a useful observation by Laurence Chauvy in the Swiss newspaper Le Temps (2015). She describes Mellan's Adam and Eve as appearing almost lascivious in their posture, but engaged in a dialogue with Death, now admitted into human existence. It is a perceptive starting point, although not a full iconographic analysis. Laurence Chauvy, Le graveur Claude Mellan célébré au Musée Jenisch de Vevey.
Where I would look for serious scholarship
I would recommend the following, in this order:
1. Musée Jenisch – Claude Mellan (1598–1688). L’écriture de la méthode (2015), edited by Florian Rodari.
Exhibition and catalogue details.
This is a substantial 216-page exhibition catalogue associated with an important collection of Mellan's engravings. It is probably the best modern starting point for understanding his religious imagery, artistic thinking and technique.
2. Maxime Préaud, Inventaire du fonds français: Graveurs du XVIIe siècle, vol. 17: Claude Mellan (Bibliothèque nationale, 1988).
This is the essential modern catalogue raisonné reference. It identifies the two sheets separately as nos. 22 and 23. It is primarily a scholarly catalogue rather than an extended theological interpretation.
3. Adam et Ève de Dürer à Chagall: Gravures de la Bibliothèque Nationale (1992), p. 87–88.
This exhibition publication places Mellan's treatment within the much longer history of representations of Adam and Eve. It is particularly useful for comparative iconography.
4. Christophe Stener's study of the engraving, which I found referenced in the catalogue material of the Université catholique de l'Ouest. It explicitly proposes reading the work beyond its apparent eroticism, as a moral metaphor. I would investigate this further, although I have not established the publication details or independently verified the argument. Reference to Christophe Stener's discussion.
My own impression ...
I think the most interesting question is whether Mellan is deliberately making the two original sinners, Adam and Eve, participants in a meditation on the nature of redemption, rather than merely illustrating the conventional theological relationship between the Fall and the Crucifixion.
The contrast between the physical, almost sensual bodies of the couple and the theological inscriptions is particularly arresting.
I would also be interested in the possibility that Mellan is drawing upon the older medieval tradition of depicting Adam's grave beneath the Cross, but extending that tradition by giving Eve such an extraordinarily prominent and physically expressive role.
My conclusion: there is good material available, but I have not yet found a single modern scholarly essay that satisfactorily unites the biblical, theological and visual aspects of these two sheets. That is rather surprising given the ingenuity of the conception.
I think it is a subject well worth pursuing."
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