"Man is different from all the other creatures"
Morgan Bible MS M.638, fol. 1v
MS M.638, fol. 1v illustrates Genesis 1:20 to Genesis 3:6, the Fifth Day of Creation to the Forbidden Fruit.
The angels continue to praise God during the creation of the fifth and sixth days.
In the Iconographic tradition a gold background represents the heavenly realm but that is not always the case in the Gothic form. Backgrounds of different colors are used to show a change of scene or to differentiate states of being.
As the Fourth Day of creation is related to the first, so is the Fifth Day related to the Second, and the Sixth Day to the Third.
On the Second Day God created the sky above and the waters below. On the Fifth Day God fills the sky with all the flying creatures and the sea with all the creatures that swim. The artist has chosen to depict one swimming creature larger than the rest. This recalls Genesis 1:21 “God created the great sea monsters.” In the ancient world men tended to stay within sight of the shore. That is where the fish were. The depths of the sea were thought to be the domain of the sea monsters. Many of these “swimming things” that went beyond the simple definition of “fish,” such as whales, sharks, and even crocodiles, were worshipped by the pagans as Gods. Egypt for example had a crocodile god, Sebek, the god of the Nile River. Here we are reminded that these great sea monsters, are simply other creatures created by God and not gods themselves.
On the Third Day God created the dry land and on the Sixth Day He populated the land with all the beasts of the earth. It was also on the Sixth Day that God created man in His own “image and likeness.” The early Church Fathers saw this image and likeness in the soul of man. Here we see God grasping man with one hand and blessing him with the other. Man is different from all the other creatures. He is given charge over the garden to till it and keep it, in Hebrew ʿāḇaḏ and šāmar, to serve and to protect. The fact that man is created last should not be taken as an indication that he is last in the rank of created things, but rather man is the summit of God's creation. All of creation is for man's benefit, to teach him about God. All of creation bears the mark of the Creator just as every painting bears the mark of the painter.
In the next scene God puts Adam into a deep sleep and from his side creates the first woman to be his helpmate, not in an inferior way but more in the sense of assistant or counselor. The creation of woman is different from that of the man. The man was created from the dust of the earth but woman was created from the flesh of the man. Saint Ambrose commented on this difference: “She was not made of the same earth with which he was formed, in order that we might realize that the physical nature of both man and woman is identical and that there was one source for the propagation of the human race.”
In their original state we are told they were naked and unashamed. The Garden was created as a place where God may walk side by side with His creation. Man was thus created robed with sanctifying grace as his only garment, a grace that allowed him to participate in the life of God. The fact that the painting shows the man and the woman using their hands to cover their genitals probably says more about the fallen nature of the viewer rather than any inconsistency on the part of the artist.
God shows the man and the woman the one tree that is forbidden to them. They may eat the fruit from any tree or bush in the Garden except the fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the Garden. We popularly think of this as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but a better understanding is the Tree of All Knowledge.
The serpent tempts the woman into eating the forbidden fruit. The woman then gives the fruit to the man who also eats.
The serpent is often depicted with legs and/or wings to highlight its former state from its later state. God curses the serpent to crawl upon its belly and so it was customary for artists to show the serpent before God's punishment as having legs and sometimes wings. Another tradition is depicting the serpent with the head of a woman. This practice lasted well into the Renaissance as we see a similar motif in Michelangelo's rendering of the same event on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The serpent is associated with the devil, always trying to separate man from God. The Book of Wisdom tells us that it was through the envy of the devil that death entered the world. (Wis 2:24)
Adam and Eve are both present here before the serpent. It is telling that when Eve eats the fruit, nothing happens. It is not until she offers the fruit to Adam, who then eats, that the robe of grace falls from them and they see that they are naked. The problem is not really the tree or its fruit. The problem is one of disobedience. God made everything for the sake of man. In return He gave them one restriction. By ignoring this command they turned away from God, trusting their own understanding (with he help of the serpent)rather than God's Word. It is this turning away from God, this disobedience, that we refer to as Original Sin. It cost us the sanctifying grace that God intended us to have, a grace that would not be restored until the incarnation of Christ.
It is sometimes asked why God would put a tree in the garden and then forbid the man and woman from eating its fruit. Some theologians speculate that at this early stage they were not ready for the knowledge that the tree would impart. But at some point later in their development God would permit them to eat of its fruit.
For more information on the Maciejowski Bible visit the Morgan Museum website at https://www.themorgan.org/collection/Crusader-Bible
Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith and the spiritual “hero’s journey” that is part of every person’s life. He maintains a blog at www.DeaconLawrence.org and can be reached at Lawrence@deaconlawrence.com
Lawrence draws on ancient Christian tradition to create new contemporary visions of sacred art. For more information on original art, prints and commissions, Please visit www.DeaconLawrence.org
Purchase fine art prints of Deacon Lawrence’s work here.
“The Visitation” © Lawrence Klimecki
