Week 13 - Akhila, The Garden Of Earthly Delights

The three paneled triptych painting is a clear portrayal of one of the most widely talked about events in religious 'history'. The leftmost panel depicts an innocent scene, where God is introducing Eve to Adam as a companion. The center panel is where the absurdity begins. Nude figures engaging in bizarre, sometimes obviously sexual, activities, suggest that the characters have a new awareness of their bodies. Taking the original story into account, it's obvious that this scene is shortly after Adam and Eve commit the sin of eating the apple from the Tree. The strange exploratory nature of this panel seems liberating and unrestrained, and though considered a 'negative' event, is wildly exciting and happy. The sharp turn to the dark black panel on the right is abrupt, and devastating. Some critics have treated the center panel as a warning, suggesting that indulgence in desires and happiness, which feels fulfilling at the time, leads directly to one's demise. There are a few dark figures that seem to have vines wrapped around their bodies in the middle panel who could be portrayals of devils, which furthers the idea of indulgence being sinful. The rightmost panel is so vastly different from the other two that the story of Adam and Eve is literally cut into three parts - innocence, knowledge/sin, hell. Because everything about this painting is extreme and scandalous, it feels out of place for its time period, almost too revealing but also too aged (romanesque). Regardless, it speaks about the society it belonged to, and how much religion impacts a culture and mindset.