Notes

The central composition of this still life features a representation of a tile depicting The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.  It is now set into the wall at the visitor’s entrance of her former home, The Firs in Rosebank in Cape Town, which today houses the Irma Stern Museum. 

Before being fixed into the wall, the painted and glazed earthenware tile, executed in the 17^th century style, was a free object in her studio and was most likely collected on a trip to Italy. Stern had an interest in early Christian art which is reflected in a number of her paintings that draw inspiration from familiar themes.

Coupled with a coffee pot and a bowl of rich apples and pears, the painting reflects a deeper meditation on the theme of the tile where the ill-fated couple, now shamed by their nudity, are expelled by the Archangel Gabriel from the orchards of the Garden of Eden.