# The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise

**Giovanni di Paolo** (Italian, 1398–1482)  
1445  
Tempera and gold on wood  
Overall: 18 1/4 × 20 1/2 in. (46.4 × 52.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975.1.31. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/458971).

## About this work

Two moments share one small panel. At the left, God the Father, borne by a ring of blue cherubim, sets the universe in motion: a great disc of concentric circles for the elements, the planets and the signs of the zodiac, with a map of the earth at its centre. At the right, an angel pushes the naked Adam and Eve out of a paradise of flowering trees and fruit. Giovanni di Paolo painted it in 1445 as part of the predella, the row of small scenes beneath the main panels, of an altarpiece in Siena. It blends medieval cosmology and storytelling with a fairy-tale charm.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Giovanni di Paolo painted this in 1445, aged 47. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Gold ground.** Gold leaf laid over a red clay and burnished to a mirror shine, often tooled with punches so it flickers in candlelight. Behind sacred figures it stands for heavenly light.
- **Tempera.** Pigment bound with egg yolk. It dries in minutes and can’t be blended wet, so painters built up form with fine, hatched strokes. It was Europe’s main panel technique before oil.

### [Giovanni di Paolo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/giovanni-di-paolo)

Italian, 1398–1482; born in Siena; died in Siena

Giovanni di Paolo spent his long career in Siena, where he was one of the city’s leading painters through the fifteenth century. Holding to the Sienese tradition of gold grounds and graceful line, he created a highly personal world of slender figures, steep, patterned landscapes and vivid storytelling, seen in narrative panels such as Saint John the Baptist Entering the Wilderness and The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was 47
- Real size: about 18 × 21 in (46 × 52 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 15th century
- Subjects: Angels, Gods, Adam, Eve
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1245.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1245/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-creation-of-the-world-and-the-expulsion-from-paradise-met-458971).