Temptation, by Rozentāls (1913)

Temptation, by Rozentāls (1913)

Image 1: Rozentāls, Janis (1866-1916)
Image 2: Kļaviņš, Ernests (1977-)

Image 1: 1913
Image 2: 2015, c.

Rozentāls's watercolor drawing (Image 1), represents a naked young woman under an apple tree and a snake coiled around the trunk looking at the young woman. The image is reminiscent of the biblical scene of Eve, the serpent and the apple of temptation. The face of the snake is that of an older woman and this can be interpreted as the young woman's procuress. The greenish color of her face can be interpreted as envy or an allusion to syphilis. The second image is Kļaviņš's interpretation of the first drawing. In the second image, the procuress' face no longer appears greenish.

Image 1:
Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia.
Found in Google Arts and Culture:
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/temptation/3gGHRHjDSxdBrg

Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210328024940/https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/temptation/3gGHRHjDSxdBrg

Image 2:
Found in Twitter, kushkomikss account, April 8, 2015
https://twitter.com/kushkomikss/status/585760183713976321

Image 1:
Drawing in watercolour.
Dimensions: 30.4 × 45.7 cm

Image 2:
Unknown.
Dimensions: Unknown