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Expulsion of Adam and Eve
by John Faed
About the Artwork
John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) was the principal literary source for John Faed's depiction of the expulsion of Adam and Eve. The archangel Michael directs the couple away from the lush gardens and heavenly radiance of Eden, while Satan in the form of a snake appears in the right foreground. In most representations of the subject, Michael guards the gates of Paradise with a fiery sword, as prescribed in both Genesis and Paradise Lost. Faed, on the other hand, has him brandishing a compass, an instrument traditionally employed by God the Father in his act of creating the world.
Inscriptions
Signed lower left: JJF.aed [JF in monogram]
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- John Faed (Scottish, 1820–1902)
- Date
- 1880s
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Unframed: 91.3 x 70.7 cm (35 15/16 x 27 13/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of Noah L. Butkin
- Accession no.
- 1980.258
Provenance
Until 1967: Private collector, consigned to Sotheby’s 1967: (Sale, Sotheby’s, London, Jan. 11, 1967, lot 6, sold to the Fine Art Society, Ltd.) 1967: (Fine Art Society, Ltd., London, sold to R. John Rickett) 1967-1970: R. John Rickett [1930-1970], London, to his wife, Mrs. John Rickett 1970-1975: Mrs. John Rickett, consigned to Sotheby’s Belgravia 1975: (Sale, Sotheby's Belgravia, London, Nov. 11, 1975, lot 87) c. 1975-1976: (Barry Friedman, Ltd., New York, sold to Shepherd Gallery) Until February 1977: (Shepherd Gallery, New York, sold to Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin) 1977-1980: Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin, Cleveland, OH, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art as a result of disclaimer by Muriel S. Butkin 1980-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
More by John Faed in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009606
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