Link: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Link: Illuminating The Word

Link: About the Exhibition
Link: Ticket Information
Selected Pages
Link: Tours and Events
Link: Send a Postcard

Send this page to a friend


Selected Pages
Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:4b – 11.32)
Adam and Eve
(Genesis 2:4-25)

Donald Jackson with contributions from Christopher Tomlin
Natural hand-ground ink on calfskin vellum
Image copyright 2002 The Saint John's Bible and Saint John's University

Adam and Eve are presented as an African man and woman surrounded by patterned fabrics from various ancient cultures. Photographs of Ethiopian tribespeople influenced Jackson's design. He wanted to link the notion of the first man and woman with current archaeological and anthropological theories that humankind originated in Africa. The decorative framing around Adam and Eve includes African tapestry patterns and, on the right, a Peruvian feather cape. The horizontal stripes are details of Middle Eastern textiles and of white body painting on black skin.

The poisonous coral snake, also depicted in the Creation and Garden of Eden illuminations, appears between Adam and Eve. It represents the serpent that tempts Eve to disobey God. The gold bar framing Adam and Eve is meant to suggest God's presence as a framework for human life.

 

Click on a page:

The Birth of Christ (Luke 1:5 and 2:40)
The Birth of Christ

To the Ends of the Earth (Acts 1:8)
To the Ends of the Earth

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed (Mark 4:3-9)
The Parable of the Sower and the Seed

The Genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1)
The Genealogy of Christ

Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:4b – 11.32)
Adam and Eve

The Life of Paul
The Life of Paul