Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Title: Story of Adam and Eve
  • Creator: Boucicaut Master, manuscript illuminator, and workshop
  • Description: Detail from folio depicting the Creation and Fall of Humanity. The central scene of this image depicts the Fall of Humanity. The serpent, having the head of a beautiful woman, has convinced Eve to take a fruit from the forbidden tree, which stands before a fountain. She holds it up to Adam as angels watch. To the left, an angel ejects the couple from Eden. Their story then continues in a series of scenes running clockwise from the gate of the garden: they live by their labor (Adam tills the land while Eve spins), and then, considerably aged (another punishment for their transgression), the couple approaches a man at a table. Adam extends a hand with a pointed finger—a speech gesture—and the seated man does the same. It is likely that the man is Boccaccio and that the couple is approaching him to tell their story.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Adam (Biblical Figure) Angels Authors Boccaccio, Giovanni, Author Books Eve (Biblical Figure) Fall of Humankind Gardens Nude
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 15
  • Date: ca. 1415
  • Related Work: Boccaccio, Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes; full page available from The Getty Center:http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=112325
  • Current Location: Los Angeles, The Getty Center, MS 63, fol. 3
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Manuscript illuminations
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Vellum (parchment); Tempera; Gold paint; Gold leaf
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 29.6 cm (full folio)/42 cm (full folio)/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: