Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

This oil painting by Flemish court painter Jan Brueghel (1568-1625) depicts the moment of temptation as Eve offers Adam a bite of an apple from the tree of knowledge. According to the Bible, when God created Adam and Eve, he told them to exercise ‘dominion... over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth’ [Genesis 1:28]. As such, a form of divine stewardship of the natural world was entrusted to humankind. Adam was also given the privilege of giving names to ‘all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field’ [Genesis 2:20]. Clearly this is the spirit in which Breughel intended this work to be enjoyed; we are invited to re-perform this act by recognising and naming as many species as we are able.