Opaque glass mosaic, designed by William Blake Richmond, executed by Messrs Powell of Whitefriars between 1896 and 1904
This Expulsion from Paradise further develops the theme explored in the mosaic next to it, The Fall of Man (mosaic no. 6392). The four mosaics over the western arches of the quire connect Old and New Testament, from the Creation of the Firmament at the Beginning of the Book of Genesis to the Annunciation which is narrated in the first chapters of the Gospel according to Luke and Matthew.
Brief description: mosaic spanning the wall above the arch with two distinct spandrel areas; at the centre the disk of the sun, mostly obscured by a red and orange cloud; on the left a seated angel (cherubim) in armour with slightly opened wings, shown in front of the gates of Paradise, resting his arms on his sword; on the right side the expelled couple nude and looking downcast: Adam’s right arm around the shoulder of the seated Eve whose her left arm is around Adam’s hip; in the background a dead tree, green hills and rock; the spandrel inscriptions as follows: “EIECITQUE [against a red background, the rest of the text against a golden background] / ADAM ET COLLOCAVIT ANTE PARADISVM VOLVPTATIS CHERVBIM” (left); “ET EMISIT [against a red background, the rest of the text against a golden background] / EVM D. DEVS DE PARADISO VT OPERARETVR TERRAM DE QVA SVMPTVS EST”; the last words of both inscriptions fragmented
Related quotes:
Genesis 3:23-24: “Et emisit eum Dominus Deus de paradiso voluptatis, ut operaretur terram de qua sumptus est. Ejecitque Adam: et collocavit ante paradisum voluptatis cherubim, et flammeum gladium, atque versatilem, ad custodiendam viam ligni vitæ.” (Vulgate); “therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.” (NRSV)
Browne 1896, p. p. 4: “In the two years from Easter 1894 to Easter 1896 the other parts of the Choir have been decorated, down to the cornice.” [Browne does not describe these in further detail.], ibd., p. 10: “The spandrels of the middle bay will have on the north side Adam and Eve when expelled from Paradise, and on the south side the Annunciation.”
Related work elsewhere: The Expulsion from Paradise, mosaic, 12th century, Palatine Chapel, Palermo, Italy; The Expulsion from Paradise, mosaic, 12th century, Monreale Cathedral, Italy; The Expulsion from Paradise, mosaic, 13th century, Florence, Baptistry (possibly after a design by Giotto or Cimabue)
Literature and references: Browne 1896, pp. 4, 10; Zech 2015, p. 41.
EIECITQUE [against a red background, the rest of the text against a golden background] / ADAM ET COLLOCAVIT ANTE PARADISVM VOLVPTATIS CHERVBIMET EMISIT [against a red background, the rest of the text against a golden background] / EVM D. DEVS DE PARADISO VT OPERARETVR TERRAM DE QVA SVMPTVS EST
