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Course: The Metropolitan Museum of Art > Unit 1
Lesson 15: Making, finding, and conserving- After the Fall: The Conservation of Tullio Lombardo's "Adam"
- Conserving Tullio Lombardo's "Adam": Time-Lapse
- Conserving Tullio Lombardo's "Adam": Order of Assembly
- An Art of Attraction: The Electrotyping Process
- Conserving the Emperors Carpet
- Conserving the Damascus Room at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Craftsman Allan Breed Turns and Carves a Duncan Phyfe Bedpost
- Craftsman Allan Breed Carves a Bow Knot and Thunderbolt Crest
- Jan Gossart - Conservation Discoveries
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Conserving Tullio Lombardo's "Adam": Order of Assembly
This 3D animation details the order in which the fragments of Tullio Lombardo's Adam were reassembled.
The life-size marble statue of Adam, carved by Tullio Lombardo (Italian, ca. 1455–1532), is among the most important works of art from Renaissance Venice to be found outside that city today. Made in the early 1490s for the tomb of Doge Andrea Vendramin, it is the only signed sculpture from that monumental complex. The serene, idealized figure, inspired by ancient sculpture, is deceptively complex. Carefully manipulating composition and finish, Tullio created God's perfect human being, but also the anxious victim of the serpent's wiles.
The life-size marble statue of Adam, carved by Tullio Lombardo (Italian, ca. 1455–1532), is among the most important works of art from Renaissance Venice to be found outside that city today. Made in the early 1490s for the tomb of Doge Andrea Vendramin, it is the only signed sculpture from that monumental complex. The serene, idealized figure, inspired by ancient sculpture, is deceptively complex. Carefully manipulating composition and finish, Tullio created God's perfect human being, but also the anxious victim of the serpent's wiles.
In 2002, Adam was gravely damaged in an accident. Committed to returning it to public view, the Museum undertook a conservation treatment that has restored the sculpture to its original appearance to the fullest extent possible.
The exhibition allows Adam to be viewed in the round and explains this unprecedented twelve-year research and conservation project. It also inaugurates a new permanent gallery for Venetian and northern Italian sculpture. The installation of this gallery was made possible by Assunta Sommella Peluso, Ignazio Peluso, Ada Peluso, and Romano I. Peluso.
Learn more about the exhibition on metmuseum.org.For more information, including production credits, view this video on MetMedia.
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