Analysis Of Masolino And Masaccio s Depictions Of Adam...

This assignment considers Masolino and Masaccio’s depictions of Adam and Eve as part of a ritual complex that communicated expectations of feminine-gendered behavior. Beginning with an analysis of both images, the text continues by briefly contextualizing the images within the Brancacci chapel. Masolino’s Adam and Eve: The Fall materially approximates â€Å"mankind’s earliest and most far-reaching act of selfishness† to the female body. In this segment of the entrance archway, Eve has presumably bitten - or is about to bite into – the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, coaxed by the figure of the Serpent. The biblical couple stands naked, uncovered, and unashamed while this anthropic snake contours the tree and Eve’s arm, gazing at the scene from above. As discussed in lecture, this compositional proximity weighs Eve as responsible for the Fall. The flat backdrop, once host to healthful, abundant vegetation, has today faded to the original nero vite as a result of surface abrasions. This considered, the artist rendered a naturalistic depiction of the scene, looking to Classical precedents in the posture of both human figures. Keeping in with the time’s conventions of painting, Eve is painted in a paler tint than Adam. The Serpent’s human face above Eve shares her pigmentation, gendering the compound creature as feminine. It should be noted that this shared coloration is not incidental, but rather a deliberate gesture on behalf of the artist: these characters’