The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise
1791, retouched 1803
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
48.6 × 72.9 cm (19 1/8 × 28 11/16 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
102227
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This tumultuous scene shows Adam and Eve, the first man and woman in the Hebrew Bible, being driven out of the Garden of Eden. Benjamin West created it as a preparatory sketch for one of several large paintings intended for a chapel in Windsor Castle, an ancient seat of the British monarchy that was undergoing restoration in the late 18th century. West worked on the project for two decades, but King George III abandoned plans for the chapel’s decoration and the paintings were never installed. O...
About the Artist
Benjamin West · 1738–1820
Benjamin West, born on October 10, 1738, in Springfield, Pennsylvania, emerged as one of the most influential painters of his era despite being entirely self-taught. Growing up in a Quaker family in colonial America, West displayed prodigious talent from childhood, creating portraits and religious scenes with materials gifted by local patrons. By his late teens, he had garnered enough support to t...