Creation And Temptation Of Adam And Eve Summary

Religious Iconography Analysis “Creation and Temptation of Adam and Eve” by Wiligelmo

Throughout decades, religious iconography has become a unique language of art, confound into religious art pieces to convey a deep implicit meaning of depicted objects. The term “icon” came from a Greek word, meaning image. An icon was originally a picture of Christ on a panel used as an object of devotion in the orthodox Greek Church from at least the seventh century on. Hence the term icon has come to be attached to any object or image that is outstanding or has a special meaning attached to it (Tate, n.d.). In fact, in order to understand the religious art, it is primarily important to closely look at pieces of iconography, to be able to

More specifically, from the biblical story, Eve’s humanlike curiosity brings her to receiving and consuming the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil from the Serpent, which was initially forbidden by god. By doing this she conducted the sin of disobedience or what is called the Original sin in Christianity, which led to their expulsion from Eden. There is a number of significant symbolic iconography hidden within this image. Firstly, a devious serpent in the garden often times depicted slithering around a tree represents Eve's temptation in the Garden of Eden. The tree, pomegranate of apple suggests the temptation of eve and the fall of man. Apple here is the Carnal pleasures and sin, also sins of mankind. The leaves with which Adam and Eve are covering their nether regions when they realized they were naked are the Fig leafs, which symbolizes loss of innocence and a fall from grace. Another key icon in the compartment is the Serpent himself. Serpent symbolizes Satan. In this case when Serpent is in the fruit tree it signifies the man’s fall from grace as well as Satan's meddling in the affairs of men. (“Symbols of Adam and Eve”,