Description
The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise is the scene Michelangelo painted around 1510 on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican: on the left Adam and Eve reach for the forbidden fruit beneath the tree, on the right an angel in red drives them out of the Garden of Eden with a sword. The original is a fresco in the plaster of the vaulted ceiling, high above the heads of visitors. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oils on canvas, in 4 long landscape sizes, 160 x 75, 180 x 85, 200 x 97 and 240 x 110 cm, or made to measure, and we send you a photograph of your finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise |
| Other titles: | Il peccato originale e la cacciata dal Paradiso · Sündenfall und Vertreibung aus dem Paradies |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) |
| Year painted: | c. 1510 |
| Original size: | about 280 cm x 570 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Fresco |
| Painting style: | High Renaissance |
| Located at: | Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, Vatican City |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 4 sizes or made to measure |
The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise – Michelangelo
What does The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise show?
Michelangelo set two moments of the same story side by side in a single long field. The left half is still Paradise, the right half already belongs to the world outside, and between them stands the tree with the serpent wound around it.
On the left Adam stands with both hands raised into the thick foliage, pulling a branch down towards him. Eve sits on the ground below him, her back against a rock, lifting her hand to the fruit the serpent holds out to her.
The trunk fills the centre, with the serpent’s tail coiled around it in heavy loops. Its upper body is a woman’s: a long-haired figure leans out of the branches and stretches an arm towards Eve. On the right an angel in a red robe hovers above the ground and points a sword at the back of Adam’s neck. Adam fends it off with raised arms as he walks away, while Eve shrinks behind him with her hands pressed to her head.
What story does the scene tell?
It comes from the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden in the company of God, but there is one tree they must not eat from. When they take its fruit all the same, they have to leave the garden.
Michelangelo joins both events in one field. On the left Eve trustingly takes the fruit from the serpent’s hand, while Adam does not wait and picks it for himself. On the right the two have already been banished into a world where they must fend for themselves and where death awaits them.
The scene closes the group of three pictures about the first humans in the middle of the ceiling.
Why is this scene so well known?
Because one field tells both the beginning and the end of life in Paradise. The same two people appear on the left and on the right, in completely different states: on one side they reach eagerly for the fruit, on the other they retreat, bent over.
Two details stand out. The tree is not the apple tree usual in Western Christian art but a fig, and the serpent has the upper body of a woman, whom English Wikipedia names as Lilith.
How all nine Genesis scenes are arranged is explained in the Wikipedia article on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It is in English, covers the whole ceiling rather than this one scene, and describes this field in its section on Adam and Eve.
Where is the original, and how did it come about?
The fresco is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, which you visit as part of the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512 for Pope Julius II, and this scene dates from around 1510.
He painted the nine Genesis stories in reverse order, starting above the entrance with Noah and working towards the altar. The first half of the ceiling was unveiled on 14 and 15 August 1511, the whole ceiling on 31 October 1512.
The field is roughly 2.8 metres high and 5.7 metres wide. The restoration of the ceiling, which ran from 1980 to the end of 1989, removed candle soot and old layers of varnish, so the colours now look brighter; critics argue that some details added on dry plaster were lost along the way.
The Fall or another Michelangelo scene?
The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise is a canvas painting for anyone drawn to a story in two acts and to strong, almost sculpted bodies.
Its direct neighbour on the ceiling is The Creation of Eve, smaller and quieter. If you want to follow the human story further, the same ceiling gives you The Deluge and The Drunkenness of Noah.
If the beginnings of the world appeal to you more, there is The Creation of the Sun and Moon, with God flying across the sky. All the famous Michelangelo paintings we paint are gathered on our Michelangelo page.
How does our painter carry the fresco onto canvas?
Let us say it plainly: the original is a fresco painted into wet plaster on the chapel ceiling, and ours is an oil painting reproduction, painted by hand on canvas. The painter starts only after you order and builds it up in several layers.
First he draws in the tree at the centre, the two groups beside it and the flying angel, so that the spacing matches the source. Then he lays in the greyish sky and the bare land, and over them models the bodies in warm pinks and ochres, the coils of the serpent and the angel’s red robe.
Our source is an older photograph taken before the restoration, so its colours are muted and its surface is crazed with cracks. The painter follows that photograph, which means your painting will carry its warm, subdued tones.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 160 x 75 cm above a sofa or a low sideboard, 180 x 85 cm above a wide seating group or a dining table, 200 x 97 cm on a large empty hallway or living-room wall.
Choose from four long landscape sizes (width x height): 160 x 75, 180 x 85, 200 x 97 and 240 x 110 cm. All are long and low like the ceiling field, so both events, the tree and the angel stay on the canvas. The fresco itself measures about 570 x 280 cm (width x height), far larger than anything we paint; our largest size is 240 x 110 cm.
As a painting for the living room, hang it above the seating with its lower edge 20 to 30 cm over the backrest.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. For a different width or height we adapt the composition so that both groups and the tree with the serpent stay whole. Tell us the size you need and we will send you a price and a delivery date.
The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise travels rolled, on a stretcher bar or in its frame. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames the long Eden canvas. You choose the moulding in our 3D app, which is only for picking a frame; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will it arrive, and how do we send it?
Once you confirm, the scene with the angel and the serpent is ready to ship in 15 to 45 working days. Once the painting is finished we send you a photograph of it, and if you would like anything changed, we do it before packing.
There are no customs duties within Slovenia or to other EU countries, and our returns policy covers every order.
The scene makes a good gift for someone who loves the Renaissance or who has stood beneath the Sistine Chapel ceiling. If you are not sure there is enough wall for the long canvas, give a wall art voucher and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original fresco?
On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, part of the Vatican Museums.
Who is the woman on the tree?
She is the serpent, given a woman’s upper body; English Wikipedia names her as Lilith.
Will I receive a print?
No. You receive a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, not a print.
How big is the fresco on the ceiling?
About 280 cm high and 570 cm wide, so much larger than either of our sizes.
Is there a size beyond the list?
Yes, we adapt the composition to your wall and send you a price and a date.
How long do I wait for the painting?
15 to 45 working days; you see the photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
Does it suit a bedroom?
It works better in a living or dining room, where there is enough wide wall for its long format.
Why is the tree a fig and not an apple?
That is how Michelangelo painted it; in Western art the forbidden tree is usually an apple tree.
- Subject: on the left Adam and Eve reach for fruit from the tree, coiled by a serpent with a woman’s body; on the right an angel in red drives them out of Paradise.
- Original: fresco, c. 1510, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican; the field measures about 280 x 570 cm.
- Ours: a Michelangelo reproduction painted by hand in oils on canvas, 4 landscape sizes, 160 x 75, 180 x 85, 200 x 97 and 240 x 110 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: one field, two scenes, the Fall and the Expulsion; the tree is a fig, not an apple.
