Expulsion of Adam and Eve (1880s): Art, History and Details

Expulsion of Adam and Eve (1880s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is John Faed (Scottish, 1820–1902).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) was the principal literary source for John Faed's depiction of the expulsion of Adam and Eve. The archangel Michael directs the couple away from the lush gardens and heavenly radiance of Eden, while Satan in the form of a snake appears in the right foreground. In most representations of the subject, Michael guards the gates of Paradise with a fiery sword, as prescribed in both Genesis and Paradise Lost. Faed, on the other hand, has him brandishing a compass, an instrument traditionally employed by God the Father in his act of creating the world.

Object facts

• Title: Expulsion of Adam and Eve
• Date: 1880s
• Creator attribution: John Faed (Scottish, 1820–1902)
• Culture: Scotland
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on fabric
• Dimensions: Unframed: 91.3 x 70.7 cm (35 15/16 x 27 13/16 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1980.258

A detail from the museum

A renewed interest in religious art in mid-19th-century Britain led John Faed to visit Palestine in 1857.

Collection credit

Bequest of Noah L. Butkin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Robert Kashey (Shepherd Gallery), email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 25, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
• Estate of Noah L. Butkin, Bequests to Cleveland Museum of Art as a result of disclaimer by Murel S. Butkin. Estates, Gifts, and Funds, Series 1, Box 2:14. Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Robert Kashey (Shepherd Gallery), email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 25, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.