Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Thomas Cole, Genesis 3:21-24, Bible.Gallery
Artwork Description
Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (or Expulsion from Paradise) was painted in 1828 by English-born American painter Thomas Cole. It belongs to the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and is on display in their Waleska Evans James Gallery (Gallery 236). This landscape painting exemplifies the style of the Hudson River School, which was a group of American landscape painters that Thomas Cole is credited with founding. On the lower left part of the cliff, Cole signed his name as "T Cole".
The painting's title, Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, hints at the story of Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden. Traditionally in art, the figures of Adam and Eve are often the focal point and their figures are used to convey their despair from expulsion. However, as an artist of the Hudson River School, Cole emphasized the landscape rather than the figures. Dwarfed by the landscape, Adam and Eve have minimal detail. While their figures' posture and expression are in disgrace, as they hold hands, covering their faces, it is through the landscape that Cole is able to truly convey their despair. Using the landscape, Cole contrasts Paradise with the outside world into which Adam and Eve are forcibly thrust by a bright ray of light. The bright ray likely symbolizes God. Paradise emanates radiance and is a source of light and joy in the universe. It is vibrant, full of life with lush wildlife, and blue skies.[2] Beyond Paradise is the outside world, which is portrayed as the opposite of Paradise. The external world is dark and ominous, as hinted in the decaying trees, volcano in the background, and the wolf devouring a deer in the bottom left corner, as a vulture flies by, hoping to scavenge some of the carcass.