Week 3 Blog Post

The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise was Masaccio’s creation. In his brief career he painted The Expulsion on the walls of the Brancacci Chapel on the Church of Santa Maria Del Carmine in Florence.  With great detail Masaccio was able to obtain form and structure flawlessly in this painting. All in only four days. The shame cast in this painting gave us the true emotion of the Adam and Eve as they left the Garden. Masaccio uses great realism and psychological insight in the color and detailed figures. He also shows great use of perspective in the emotions of Adam and Eve.

First looking at The Expulsion I saw it as a type of collage as if the pieces were painted separately and then placed together for a dimensional effect. When I read further into it’s history I learned that in a way that was what was done. The angel was painted on the first day, the door way the second, Adam the third, and Eve the fourth. The blue halo around Adam is what drew me to this particular piece. It created a flat image rather than one of dimension. The Renaissance time was known for creating dimension in their works of art and creating a new way of looking at art. The Expulsion does not drastically create this dimension like other pieces have, like The Delivery of the keys to St. Peter had done.  The Expulsion is composed of detailed figures on a flat image.

The color of The Expulsion emphasized the nudes and browns through out the piece. I found this to be interesting and relevant to the emphasis of the nudity and shame Adam and Eve were feeling. I think Masaccio was meaning to keep the neutral color tones in his painting to emphasize the bareness of his figures. These color choices also bring attention to the angel in the background and the light source coming through the doorframe. The angel floats in the background with a dark pink dress draping over Adam and Eve as she holds a dark black sword to create the persistence in getting Adam and Eve to leave the garden.  Initially I thought the light source was the light coming from the doorframe, it is black, which is not the usual color for light. As I looked closer I realized the there was a shadow on Adam’s back where the light should have been hitting it, and lighting it up. I then realized it wasn’t the light source, but maybe God or another source expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden. Showing the darkness in their decision. Masaccio rather showed his light source in the long shadows going back left of the figures. Which gave a strong sense of volumetric solidity. The interesting thing was that the light source looked as if it were coming from the actual window in the rear wall of the Brancacci Chapel.

One of the main reasons I chose to analyze The Expulsion was because of the emotions in Adam and Eve. The details in the two figures set them apart from the surrounding images including the angel. The angel is washed out and shows little expression. Almost as if she is at peace, like an angel should be. Adam’s figure shows great details in his muscles. His stomach is clenched as if he were openly crying from shame. His mouth also alluded to him crying the way it is partially open and corners are turned upwards. His hands cover his face to keep from looking at Eve and making eye contact with anything.  Eve covers her body in shame and too is crying openly, her eyes clenched shut and mouth open as she sobs. These details in Adam and Eve create realism with in The Expulsion.

The Expulsion seemed to stand aside from other renaissance pieces, because it is a flatter image that emphasizes the detail in its figures as apposed to the surrounding area. The emotion in the faces as well as the flexed muscles tells the story of shame. Masaccio created realism in his figures instead of the surrounding area, because he know the emphasis was meant to be on the two in shame. 

*The Delivery of the keys to St. Peter mentioned in the second paragraph.