Domenico Fetti
Around 1618–20
Oil paint on wood
85.5 cm x 67 cm
The Bible recounts that Adam and Eve had to learn to survive on their own after being banished from the Garden of Eden. Here, Eve spins thread to make clothing while Adam cultivates the land for food. Their children, Cain and Abel, accompany them.
Domenico Fetti succeeded Peter Paul Rubens as court painter to the powerful Gonzaga family in Mantua (northern Italy). He was strongly influenced by Rubens, as well as by the delicate colours used by Renaissance Venetian painters.