Panels from an Ivory Casket with the Story of Adam and Eve

Panels from an Ivory Casket with the Story of Adam and Eve

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This panel is one from a series of scenes of the lives of Adam and Eve that originally decorated a small box. On this panel Adam and Eve, identified with Greek inscriptions, work at a metal forge; on the other panel they harvest grain (see 17.190.138). Two intact caskets that show similar scenes of Adam and Eve's toil also display Ploutos, the personification of wealth-a reminder to the owner of the treasure stored in the casket that prosperity is a gift from God and that God favors those who repent of their sins.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panels from an Ivory Casket with the Story of Adam and EvePanels from an Ivory Casket with the Story of Adam and EvePanels from an Ivory Casket with the Story of Adam and EvePanels from an Ivory Casket with the Story of Adam and EvePanels from an Ivory Casket with the Story of Adam and Eve

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.