Adam and Eve (Ghiberti)

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The door of paradise in Florence
Creation of Adam and Eve, fall into sin and expulsion from paradise

Adam and Eve is a bronze relief by Lorenzo Ghiberti . It is integrated as the upper left of ten panels in his Paradise Door (also the Paradise Gate from 1425 to 1452) at the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence . It depicts biblical scenes from the creation of man and his expulsion from paradise.

presentation

Four scenes are shown simultaneously:

Scene 1: In the lower left foreground, the time immediately after Adam was created is shown. God the Father helps him up.

Scene 2: Centrally, Ghiberti places the creation of Eve by God the Father from the back of the sleeping Adam. Angels support him.

Scene 3: Adam and Eve sin by eating forbidden fruits from the tree of knowledge. The snake that seduced her is depicted with the head of a woman.

Scene 4: The expulsion from paradise. Adam is dragging Eve towards an arch, presumably the gate of paradise.

God the Father is always surrounded by some angels. Heavenly hosts can be seen in the background.

technology

The background and foreground are differentiated by the representation as low and high relief . The transitions are fluid. Very superficial scenes are undercut. Ghiberti made a mistake in perspective in the only architectural element, the arch: the upper edge of the left side is aligned upwards, not downwards.

See also