The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man
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| Artist | Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Elder |
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| Year | c. 1617 |
| Type | Oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 74.3 cm × 114.7 cm (29.3 in × 45.2 in) |
| Location | Mauritshuis, The Hague |
The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man or The Earthly Paradise with the Fall of Adam and Eve is a 1617 painting by Peter Paul Rubens (figures) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (flora and fauna). It is housed in the Mauritshuis, Netherlands. The painting depicts the moment just before the consumption of forbidden fruit and the fall of man.
Adam and Eve are depicted beneath the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, where various fruits grow. On the opposite side the tree of life is depicted, also laden with fruits. The scene is a reference to Genesis 2:8–14. A monkey biting an apple to the left symbolizes sin.[1] The sanguine monkey next to Adam is the hotspur who cannot resist temptation, while the choleric cat near Eve's heels represents cruel cunning.[1] In Christian symbolism, several grapes in the foliage behind Adam and Eve represent Christ's death on the cross, as wine represents his blood.[1]
