3-098-557 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Creation of Adam and the Original Sin, 12th century. Mural paintings from the Hermitage of the Vera Cruz de Maderuelo (Segovia) by an unknown Romanesque painter. On the left, God creates Adam, and on the right, Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, offered by the serpent. In the centre is a palm tree, identified with the Tree of Life and the eastern location of Eden (Genesis 2:8), where this tree was supposed to have originated. The palm tree separates the pre-fall Eden of Creation, and the post-fall Eden, represented by the Tree of Knowledge, which is depicted dry. Its deterioration, caused by Man's disobedience and represented chromatically, reflects the knowledge of the ancient stories related to the Tree of Death.