Year
1477–1479 (some scholars date it earlier, around 1467–1468, suggesting it may be among Van der Goes’s earliest surviving works; the question remains debated)
Medium
Oil on oak panel
Dimensions
32.2 cm × 21.9 cm (12.7 in × 8.6 in)
Region
Dutch
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The painting is the left wing of a small devotional diptych. The Vienna Diptych, or the Fall and Redemption of Man, is a religious diptych by the Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes depicting the fall of man on the left panel and the lamentation of Christ on the right panel. Painted in the second half of the 15th century, the diptych is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. While this essay focuses primarily on The Fall of Man as an independent visual and theological statement, the work cannot be fully understood in isolation from its companion panel, and both will be addressed where relevant.
