- Title: Eve Presenting the Forbidden Fruit to Adam
- Author: John Martin
- Date: 1824
- Medium: Mezzotint
- Condition: Excellent
- Inches: 11 x 7 1/2 [Image]
- Centimeters: 27.94 x 19.05 [Image]
- Product ID: 102208
From The Paradise Lost of John Milton (pub. 1846), Book 9, Line 995
After Eve tells Adam that she has eaten of the forbidden tree, he becomes angry, upset that she has chosen to disobey God. However, he soon decides that he does not wish to live without her, choosing to eat the fruit as well so as not to be separated from her.
"So saying, she embrac'd him, and for joy
Tenderly wept, much won that he his Love
Had so enobl'd, as of choice to incurr
Divine displeasure for her sake, or Death.
In recompence (for such compliance bad
Such recompence best merits) from the bough
She gave him of that fair enticing Fruit
With liberal hand: he scrupl'd not to eat
Against his better knowledge, not deceav'd,
But fondly overcome with Femal charm.
Earth trembl'd from her entrails, as again
In pangs, and Nature gave a second groan,
Skie lowr'd, and muttering Thunder, som sad drops
Wept at compleating of the mortal Sin
Original..." (Paradise Lost IX.990-1004)
John Martin (1789-1854) was an English painter and printmaker known for his dramatic and visionary landscapes and apocalyptic scenes. He showed a talent for drawing as a young man and at the age of 17, moved to London with his master, Italian artist Boniface Musso, where he supported himself by giving drawing lessons and painting watercolor. After sending his first oil painting to the Royal Academy, it was not hung and returned to him. The following year he sent the same painting and this time it was hung in the Great Room. Subsequently, he produced a number of large oil paintings, many of them exhibited.
Martin became known for his grand, imaginative landscapes, often depicting biblical or mythological subjects. Some of his most famous works include "The Great Day of His Wrath," "The Last Judgment," and "The Plains of Heaven," which all convey a sense of impending doom and awe-inspiring power.
Martin's work continued to influence artists in the 19th and 20th centuries, and he remains an important figure in the history of British art.