The Expulsion from Paradise

This marble group represents the Expulsion from Paradise and is made by Francesco Bertos, in the early 18th century.

The circular composition of the group is characteristic of the work of Bertos (active 1693-1734). The figures have analogies in the male figures in the marble group of the Triumph of Truth and in a female figure in the Allegory of Winter in the Palazzo Reale, Turin. The origins of Bertos are unknown, but he is documented as working in Rome (1693), Venice (1710) and Padua (1733-34). He is better known for his work which lends itself more readily to his individual style.

Ideally seen in the round or turned, this group in fact relates to the viewer in the intimate manner of a small bronze. In contrast to the adjacent bust, the composition of the group works against the properties of the crystalline and brittle marble which has been largely cut away to create the slender forms.