Abstraction and Concretization Of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil As Seen Through Biblical Interpretation and Art Alyssa Ovadis Department of Jewish Studies Faculty of Arts McGill University, Montreal April 2010 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts © Alyssa Ovadis 2010 iii ABSTRACT This work examines the patterns inherent to the understanding of the nature of the forbidden fruit in an attempt to demonstrate parallels between the reasoning of biblical interpreters, on one hand, and of artists, on the other. While the biblical text, in Gen. 2:16-17, offers an abstract portrayal by vaguely employing the word “fruit,” visual representations inevitably present a more concrete and less generic image by illustrating a specific fruit. My research presents this phenomenon of abstraction and concretization through five chapters that exhibit the juxtaposition of the biblical text to its illustration: first, the representation of the Garden of Eden; second, the portrayal of the two trees, the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life; third, the presence of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in those visual depictions; fourth, its absence; and fifth, typological references to the Forbidden Fruit within New Testament scenes. RÉSUMÉ Cet ouvrage examine les motifs inhérents à la compréhension de la nature du fruit défendu en tentant de démontrer des parallèles entre le raisonnement des interprètes bibliques d‟un côté, et celui des artistes de l‟autre. Alors que le texte biblique de la Genèse 2:16-17 offre une représentation abstraite en employant vaguement le mot «fruit», les représentations visuelles, elles, présentent inévitablement une image plus concrète et moins générique en illustrant un fruit spécifique. Ma recherche présente ce phénomène d‟abstraction et de concrétisation à travers cinq chapitres qui manifestent la juxtaposition entre le texte biblique et son illustration: en premier, la représentation du Jardin d‟Éden; en second, l‟image des deux arbres, l‟Arbre de la Connaissance et l‟Arbre de la Vie; en troisième, la présence du Fruit de l‟Arbre de la Connaissance dans ces représentations visuelles; en quatrième, son absence; et en cinquième, les références typologiques du Fruit Défendu à travers des scènes du Nouveau Testament. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iii Illustrations v Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 Chapter I. The Garden of Eden 6 “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” Hieronymus Bosch 6 “Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden,” Peter Wenzel 11 Chapter II. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life 16 “The Story of Adam and Eve,” Boucicaut Master 16 “Adam and Eve with the Tree of Life,” Guido di Graziano 26 “Adam and Eve,” Hans Sebald Beham 31 Chapter III. The Presence of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge 41 “Adam and Eve with the Serpent,” Illustration from the Raphael Bible 42 “Eve and the Apple with Counterpart,” Giuseppe Arcimboldo 47 “Temptation Eden,” Hunterian Psalter 54 Chapter IV: The Absence of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge 59 “Adam and Eve,” Domenichino 59 “Fall and Expulsion of Adam and Eve,” Michelangelo 61 Chapter V: Typological References to the Forbidden Fruit in New Testament Scenes 65 “Nativity and the Fall of Man,” Giulio Clovio 67 “The Temptation in the Desert,” La Chaise Dieu Abbey 71 “The Madonna of the Victory,” Andrea Mantegna 73 Conclusion 79 Appendix 82 Bibliography 117 v ILLUSTRATIONS Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights. Oil on wood triptych, 220 x 389 cm., c.1504. Museo del Prado, Madrid……………………………………………………7 Peter Wenzel, Adam and Eve. Oil on canvas, 336 x 247 cm., 18th or 19th century. Vatican Museums, Vatican City…………………………………………………………………..12 The Boucicaut Master, “Story of Adam and Eve,” in Concerning the Fates of Illustrious Men and Women. Tempera and gold on parchment, 42 x 29.6 cm., 1415. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles…………………………………………………………………....17 Guido di Graziano, “Adam and Eve and the Tree of Life,” in Tractatus de Creatione Mundi. Gold and tempera on parchment, 20.5 x 14.5 cm., c.1300. Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, Siena……………………………………………………………………..27 Hans Sebald Beham, Adam and Eve. Engraving, 8.2 x 5.7 cm., 1543. Private collection…………………………………………………………………………………32 Italian School, “Adam and Eve with the Serpent,” illustration from the Raphael Bible. Gouache over an etched base on paper, 31.5 x 34.6 cm., 18th century. Private collection…………………………………………………………………………………43 Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Eve and the Apple with Counterpart. Oil on canvas, 43 x 35.5 cm. (each), 1578. Private Collection, Basle…………………………………………………..48 “Temptation in Eden,” detail from the Hunterian Psalter (MS. Hunter 229). c.1170. Glasgow University Library, Glasgow…………………………………….......................55 Domenichino, Adam and Eve. Oil on canvas, 68.6 x 54.6 cm., 1623-25. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Grenoble……………………………………………………………………60 Michelangelo, “Fall and Expulsion of Adam,” from the Sistine Chapel. Fresco, 1510. Sistine Chapel, Vatican……………………………………………..………………..…..62 Giulio Clovio, “Nativity and “The Fall of Man,” Farnese Hours. Vellum, 17.2 x 11 cm. (each), 1546. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York…………………………………...…68 La Chaise Dieu Abbey, The Temptation in the Desert. Tapestry, 1844. Abbaye de La Chaise-Dieu, La Chaise-Dieu…………………………………………………………….72 Andrea Mantegna, The Madonna of the Victory. Oil on canvas, 285 x 168 cm., 1496. Musée du Louvre, Paris…………………………………………………………………..74 Shaul Shapiro, Map of the Cultivated Landscapes of Biblical Israel. 1982 (This map is found in Michael Zohary‟s Plants of the Bible: A Complete Handbook to All the Plants with 200 Full-Colour Plates Taken in the Natural Habitat. This book does not include any further information on the source of this map) …..…………...……………………..85 Thomas Cole, The Garden of Eden. Oil on canvas, 97.8 x 134 cm., 1828. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas……………………………………………………………..86 vi Nicolas Poussin, The Spring. Adam and Eve in Paradise. Oil on canvas, 117 x 150 cm., 1660-64. Musée du Louvre, Paris………………………………………………………..87 Jan Brueghel the Elder, Garden of Eden. Oil on copper, 50.3 x 80.1 cm., 1612. Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome…………………………………………………………………...88 Limbourg Brothers, “Temptation, Fall and Expulsion,” in The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Vellum, 29 x 21 cm., 1411-16. Musée Condé, Chantilly……………………...89 The Boucicaut Master, “Story of Adam and Eve,” in Concerning the Fates of Illustrious Men and Women. Tempera and gold on parchment, 42 x 29.6 cm., 1415. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles…………………………………………………………………....90 Charles Joseph Natoire, The Expulsion from Paradise. Oil on copper, 67.9 x 50.2 cm., 1740. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York………………………………………….91 “Adam and Eve,” in Boccaccio‟s De Claris Mulieribus. Woodcut, 26.6 x 19.8 cm., 1487. Bodleian Library, Oxford………………………………………………………………...92 “Adam and Eve, Eating the Apple and Being Expelled from Paradise,” in the Nuremberg Chronicles. Woodcut, 45 x 31 cm., 1493. Private Collection………………………..…..93 Lucas Cranach the Elder, Adam and Eve. Oil on panel, 172 x 63 cm. and 167 x 61 cm., 1528. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence………………………………………………….....94 Lucas Cranach the Elder, Adam and Eve. Oil on panel, 1508-10. Musée des Beaux-Arts et d‟Archéologie, Besançon………………………………………………………………...95 Lucas Cranach the Elder, Adam and Eve. Oil on panel, 117 x 80 cm., 1526. Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London……………………………………………………….....96 Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve. Oil on panel, 209 x 81 cm. (each), 1507. Museo del Prado, Madrid.....................................................................................................................97 Hans Baldung Grien, Adam and Eve. Oil on panel, 208 x 83.5 cm. (each), 1524. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest……………………………………………………………………98 Hendrik Goltzius, The Fall of Man. Oil on canvas, 104.5 x 138.4 cm., 1616. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C………………………………………………………...99 Hugo Van der Goes, Original Sin. Oil on panel, 35.5 x 23.2 cm., 1467-68. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna…………………………………………………….100 Jacopo Tintoretto, Adam and Eve. Oil on canvas, 220 x 150 cm., c. 1550. Gallerie dell‟Accademia, Venice………………………………………………………………...101 “Adam and Eve,” in the Codex Series nova 2612 (Speculum Humanae Salvationis). Coloured pen drawing, 28 x 20 cm., c.1336. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna…………………………………………………………………………………..102 vii Jan Van Eyck, “Adam and Eve,” in the Ghent Altarpiece. Oil on wood. 213.3 x 32.3 cm. (each), 1432. Cathedral of St. Bavon, Ghent…………………………………………...103 “Temptation of Adam and Eve,” in Florence Miniature (MS. C2 Antiphonary). 1481. Museo dell‟ Opera del Duomo, Florence……………………………………………….104 “Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,” in the Codex Aemilianensis. 994. El Escorial, Real Biblioteca de San Lorenzo……………………...105 Master of Catherine of Cleves, “Even and the Virgin,” in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves. Vellum, 19.2 x 13 cm., c.1440. Morgan Library and Museum, New York……106 Berthold Furtmeyr, “Tree of Death and Life,” in the Salzburger Missale. 1481. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich……………………………….…………………..107 Fra Angelico, Altarpiece of the Annunciation. Tempera on panel, 154 x 194 cm., 1430-32. Museo del Prado, Madrid……………………………………………………………….108 Carlo Crivelli, The Annunciation. Oil on canvas, 207 x 146.7 cm., 1486. The National Gallery, London………………………………………………………………………...109 Petrus Christus, The Nativity. Oil on wood, 130 x 97 cm., c.1445. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C…………………………………………………………………...110 Francesco Marmitta, Virgin and Child Flanked by Saints Benedict and Quentin. 220 x 138 cm., 1500-05. Musée du Louvre, Paris…………………………………………….111 Carlo Crivelli, Triptych of Camerino. Tempera on panel, 1482. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan……………………………………………………………………………………112 Carlo Crivelli, Virgin and Child Enthroned. Tempera on panel, 107 x 55 cm., c.1476. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest………………………………………………………...113 Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Virgin and Child Under the Apple Tree. Oil on canvas, 87 x 59 cm., c.1530. The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg……………………………….114 Petrus Christus, Madonna of the Dry Tree. Oil on wood, 17.4 x 12.4 cm., c.1465.