Gods and stories

Jean Cousin the Elder

Eva Prima Pandora

after 1549

Painting on wood panel, 97.5 × 150 cm · Louvre, Paris

A French Renaissance reclining nude by Jean Cousin, who worked in the town of Sens. Its title fuses Eve, the first woman of the Bible, with Pandora, the first woman of Greek myth.

• The tablet above her reads “Eva Prima Pandora” (Eve, the first Pandora).
• She leans on a skull, a reminder of death.
• A serpent and apple point to Eden; a ruined landscape lies behind.
• Bought by the Louvre in 1922 from Sens.

Zeus had Pandora made as the first woman to punish humans for Prometheus’s gift. She opened a jar that released every evil, leaving only Hope inside.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain