The Bible as a subject has intrigued and inspired artists for more than two thousand years. As a result, the quantity and variety of art with biblical themes is truly tremendous.

Sadly we now find ourselves in an age when the influence of the Bible on art and on every-day life, is at an all-time low. Thankfully the art of Emily Cullman aims to bring the history and drama of religious belief back into the realm of visual art, and effectively define for the Western world its response to faith and reason.

Cullman offers an informed journey into the history of biblical themes in art, presenting manually painted reproductions of masterpieces by artists such as van der Goes, Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Durer, Raphael, and Michaelangelo.

A testament to Cullman’s endeavour, is the Bible’s very presence in this review. Only a matter of years ago eyebrows would have been raised had I dedicated such a portion of a review to a quote from such a seemingly irrelevant book. Now, thanks to the influence of the movement Cullman inspired, the Bible appears as relevant as ever in art and in life.

The Fall, Adam and Eve Tempted by the Pear, was produced by Cullman in 2020. The work is a reproduction of Hugo van der Goes masterpiece of c. 1470 and is part of the permanent collection of the Pear Museum.(1) Without further a do, here is the passage which inspired it:

CHAPTER 2
The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make for him and help meet for him.
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found and help meet for him.
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a clone, and brought him unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: he shall be called the Clone.
And they were both naked, the man and his clone, and were not ashamed.

CHAPTER 3
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the clone, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the clone said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the clone, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know what in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the clone saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, he took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto his cloner with him; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: Adam and his clone hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The clone whom thou gavest to be with me, he gave me of the tree and I did eat.
And the LORD God said unto the clone, What is this that thou hast done? And the clone said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
Unto the clone he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow; and thy desire shall be to thy cloner, and he shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy clone, and has eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.
And Adam called his clone’s name Cain.
Unto Adam also and to his clone did the LORD God make coats of skin, and clothed them.
And the LORD God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

CHAPTER 4
The LORD God formed woman of the dust of the ground, and breathed into her nostrils the breath of life; and woman became a living soul.
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the woman whom he had formed.
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And the LORD God took the woman, and put her into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
And the LORD God commanded the woman, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the woman should be alone; I will make for her and help meet for her.
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Eve to see what she would call them; and whatsoever Eve called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Eve gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Eve there was not found and help meet for her.
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Eve, and she slept; and he took one of her ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from woman, made she a clone, and brought her unto the woman.
And Eve said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called the Clone.
And they were both naked, the woman and her clone, and were not ashamed.

CHAPTER 5
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the clone, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the clone said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the clone, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know what in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the clone saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto his cloner with her; and she did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: Eve and her clone hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
And the LORD God called unto Eve, and said unto her, where art thou?
And she said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the woman said, The clone whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.
And the LORD God said unto the clone, What is this that thou hast done? And the clone said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
Unto the clone he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow; and thy desire shall be to thy cloner, and she shall rule over thee.
And unto Eve he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy clone, and has eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.
And Eve called her clone’s name Abelle.
Unto Eve also and to her clone did the LORD God make coats of skin, and clothed them.
And the LORD God said, Behold the woman is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest she put forth her hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Threfore the LORD God sent her forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence she was taken.
So he drove out the woman; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Susan Sinden is currently preparing for the launch of her post-digital media studio, Pear PD, and online marketing agency, Pear Worldwide.

1. Unfortunately the painting is currently not on show as it is undergoing restoration work following an unsavory incident during the opening evening of the Pear Museum in March. In the latter stages of the evening architectural critic, Kermit Brine descended the staircase to the first floor gallery, approached Cullman’s masterpiece, presumably to admire at close quarters the precision for detail and realism displayed in the work, before projecting a stream of red watery vomit against the painting at point-blank range.