Old Masters · Genesis 3:6 · 4 October 2026 · 4 works

The Fall of Man

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Four paintings: the reaching for the fruit, and what comes after.

Eve hands the apple on, and Adam scratches his head. Around them the animals of paradise still lie side by side in peace.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Adam and Eve, 1526 — **Lucas Cranach the Elder**, Adam and Eve, 1526

In Titian's version Adam is seated and puts his hand against Eve as if to hold her back. She reaches up all the same, towards a serpent with the body of a child.

Titian, The Fall of Man, c. 1550 — **Titian**, The Fall of Man, c. 1550

One field, two moments. On the left the pair reach for the fruit, and the serpent coiled round the tree has the body of a woman. On the right an angel with a sword drives them out.

Michelangelo, The Fall and the Expulsion from Paradise, c. 1509–10 — **Michelangelo**, The Fall and the Expulsion from Paradise, c. 1509–10

No garden and no tree, only the gate and the bare ground. Adam covers his face, Eve her body, and she cries out.

Masaccio, The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (detail), c. 1425–27 — **Masaccio**, The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (detail), c. 1425–27