Albrecht Durer painted Fall of Man (Adam and Eve) in 1504. It is engraving and kept in Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The training as a goldsmith from Durer's Father was developed in handling the burin, the engraving tool with an extraordinary proficiency. This portrait was first distillation of Durer's studies of the Vitruvian theory of human proportions. It was a theory which was based on arithmetic ratios. The figure of Adam and Eve are clearly outlined against a northern European Forest as a dark background. Durer's concept of "perfect" male and female figures, systematize sets of ideal human proportions in balanced contrapposto poses, were represented in the final print. However, he modulated his concept with naturalism by exhibiting his observational skill with the background animals and greenery. The animals, cat, elk,rabbit, and ox, represent humanity's temperaments based on the "four humors" developed by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The animals populating the portrait are symbolic. For instance, the tension existing between cat and mouse symbolizes the relation of Adam and Eve at the crucial moment, intending to bite the apple, in Fall of Man.
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