The Expulsion

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Created by Henry Wiles in White marble; 1871. Inscribed on back right corner of base: ‘Henry Wiles/Sculptor/LONDON 1871’; and on the front and back of socle: They hand in hand, with slow steps and wandering, Through Eden took their solitary way.” This figure group depicts a remorseful Adam and Eve making their way out of the Garden of Eden, having disobeyed God and been expelled from paradise. The quotation on the base is the final sentence of John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. First published in 1667, it is an ambitious rewriting of the Fall of Man and one of the most influential poems ever written in English language. This sculpture is dated 1871, and so must have been produced immediately after Wiles’ return from Italy. It was bequeathed to Museum by Reverend Blore in 1885, just 14 years after it was made, so he was likely the first owner and perhaps commissioned work. Bequeathed by Rev. E.W. Blore, Senior Fellow of Trinity College, in 1885 (M.2-1885)