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    Open today 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Only have an hour to spend?

    We've got you covered.

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Opening soon

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Games and Interactives
    • Educational Resources
    • Research

    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

    Today's puzzle

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    • Visiting with Kids
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    Open today 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Only have an hour to spend?

    We've got you covered.

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Opening soon

  • Art & Artists

    • Artworks
    • Artists
    • Stories
    • Games and Interactives
    • Educational Resources
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    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

    Today's puzzle

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    3. Benjamin West, Jr.
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    Benjamin West, Jr.

    American, 1772 - 1848

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    In the left half of this horizonal painting, a winged angel gestures with arms raised over a man and woman being forced away from a bank of clouds set against a flat and barren landscape. The angel, man, and woman all have pale skin. The blond angel is dressed in a flowing white robe with coral-red fabric that hangs over one arm and billows behind. Kneeling in front of the angel, the woman wears a toga that appears to be made from an ivory-colored animal skin. Her long auburn-brown hair falls in waves around her shoulders, and she looks up to the sky, her mouth open. She kneels with her body facing our right, and she grasps the man’s right arm, closer to us. The man wears a chestnut-brown fur garment around his hips and he covers his face with his other hand. His brown curls and the animal skin blow in the wind. Gold and cream-white clouds envelop the angel to our left and give way to the shadowed landscape to our right. A dagger-like spear of light thrusts out of the clouds from above the angel, toward the man and woman. Thistles grow close to us in the foreground and, to our right, a striped serpent lifts its head and flicks out its tongue. A lion attacks two horses beyond the people, and in the sky above, an eagle swoops down on a heron. The navy-blue horizon line in the deep distance could indicate a body of water. Small patches of blue sky appear through breaks in the clouds.
    Benjamin West, The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, 1791, oil on canvas, Avalon Fund and Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1989.12.1

    The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise

    The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise

    Benjamin West · 1791 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1989.12.1

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