Artwork
The Explusion from Paradise
The Explusion from Paradise is an ink print by the Renaissance artist Lucas van Leyden. It dates from 1529 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Lucas van Leyden’s 1529 engraving titled *The Expulsion from Paradise* portrays the biblical moment when Adam and Eve are forced to leave the Garden of Eden. Executed on a metal plate, the print measures the artist’s command of line and composition during the early sixteenth‑century Northern Renaissance, reflecting the period’s interest in narrative detail and moral illustration.
Subject & Meaning
The image captures the first humans at the threshold of Eden, their bodies turned away as an angelic figure gestures the banishment. The composition emphasizes the loss of innocence and the transition from divine providence to earthly existence, echoing contemporary theological interpretations of original sin and human fallibility.
Technique & Style
The dense network of hatching creates a sense of volume and atmospheric perspective, a notable achievement given the medium’s limitations at the time.
Van Leyden employed the intaglio engraving process, incising intricate lines into a copper plate to render texture, shading, and spatial depth. The dense network of hatching creates a sense of volume and atmospheric perspective, a notable achievement given the medium’s limitations at the time. The work’s fine detailing exemplifies the artist’s skill in translating complex scenes onto a flat surface.
History & Provenance
Born in 1494 in Leiden, Lucas van Leyden was a leading figure in early Dutch printmaking and genre painting. *The Expulsion from Paradise* stands among his mature prints, produced during a prolific period when he refined both woodcut and engraving techniques. The print circulated widely in the Low Countries, influencing subsequent generations of Northern artists.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very accomplished engraver.
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