Adam and Eve Driven From Paradise

Adam and Eve Driven From Paradise of 1896, on cardboard at the Jewish Museum in New York, belongs to Tissot's extraordinary late project: an illustrated Life of the Old Testament produced between 1896 and his death in 1902, involving over 350 gouache and watercolour works documenting every major episode of the Hebrew Bible. After completing his illustrated Life of Christ (1896), which was a sensational commercial success, Tissot turned to the Old Testament with the same archaeological and devotional seriousness, consulting scholars, visiting Palestine, and studying Near Eastern costume and landscape. The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise is one of the narrative foundations of both Jewish and Christian scripture, and Tissot treats it as he does all his biblical subjects: with an attempt at historical and geographical authenticity rather than idealised Renaissance convention.

Gouache or watercolour on cardboard, the work uses Tissot's meticulous detail and strong narrative staging developed over years of biblical illustration. His approach emphasises the material reality of the figures and setting rather than allegory or abstraction. The warm colours of paradise would contrast with whatever cooler or harsher palette he uses to suggest the world beyond Eden.