Expulsion from Paradise c. 1615

This is Gerard ter Borch’s drawing, made with pen and brown ink, depicting the Expulsion from Paradise. What strikes one immediately is the starkness of the composition. Borch uses simple lines and minimal shading to convey a scene of profound loss. The figures are grouped in clusters, their forms rendered with an economy of detail that lends them an almost sculptural quality. These nude figures, caught in moments of embrace or descent, express raw emotion. The drawing employs a semiotic system where the naked body signifies vulnerability and the loss of innocence. The clusters of figures, separated yet connected, might reflect the disruption of harmony and the onset of alienation. The lack of background detail further focuses our attention on the figures themselves, their bodies becoming the primary vehicles of meaning. Notice how the formal qualities of line and composition are not merely aesthetic choices but function as potent signifiers of a larger narrative and philosophical discourse. The drawing invites us to contemplate the human condition, the consequences of choice, and the inherent tensions between desire and knowledge.