The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise by Giovanni di Paolo: The Universe in One Gesture (1445)
God sweeps down from the top left corner of the picture, carried by a swirl of seraphim, and points at a great disc of coloured rings. At its centre lies the earth, a small brown map surrounded by circles of water, air and fire, the planets and the signs of the zodiac. A few steps to the right, the story has already moved on: a naked angel is leading Adam and Eve out of a garden of fruit trees and flowers. Giovanni di Paolo painted The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise in Siena in 1445, and in one small panel he put the beginning of the universe and the beginning of human history side by side. The picture below is our vintage poster version of the painting; the original panel is shown further down. Vintage art poster by Sapiens Verbum after Giovanni di Paolo, The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise , 1445 (tempera and gold on wood, 46.4 × 52.1 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Available from the Sapiens Verbum print shop. ...