bavarikon4UGlasschale mit Adam und Eva Darstellung
Description
The bowl is comprised of 14 fragments and was recovered from a waste pit that had once belonged to a larger town house. The Fall of Man is depicted. Adam and Eve stand to the left and right of the tree of knowledge, around whose trunk the serpent coils, each one protecting their modesty with a leaf with their left hand. Their right hands are stretched out towards the tree. Above the tree a Christogram (a symbol for Jesus Christ, which consists of the Greek letters Chi (X) and Roh (P) written on top of each other, forming the first letters of the name CHRistus) can be seen. Above each of the heads of Adam and Eve a star can be found. The image corresponds to the typical early Christian depictions of the Fall. The pearl necklace and the tiara that Eve wears in her elaborately arranged hair are striking. A reference to the owner of the bowl should perhaps be made at this point. Such bowls often served as drinking vessels, which is also indicated by the carved saying "VIVAS IN DEO P(ie) Z(eses) (Live in God, drink, so that thou may live)". The Augsburg Adam and Eve bowl is considered the earliest datable object with Christian imagery in all of Bavaria.