The New Adam

The sculpture The New Adam, which bears a formal resemblance to the male figure in The 7th Day of Creation from the same year, bears witness to Kirchner’s intensive preoccupation with the creation story and with similar biblical content. As the title suggests, it is not the paradisiacal Adam before the Fall that is depicted, but a new Adam. In St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (5, 12 – 15), Jesus Christ, who took upon himself the sins of mankind through his crucifixion, is called the new Adam. The figure’s gaze is directed full of hope towards heaven and his arms are also prophetically raised. In The New Adam, Kirchner refers to the Christian message of the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life associated with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.