So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: (Genesis 1: 27-28, KJV)
In this charming acrylic on panel painting in a naive style, British Artist Frank Humphrey Allen offers us a beatific vision of the Garden of Eden on the morning of the seventh day of Creation, when God rests in heaven, surveying the finished work of a week of intensiveu cosmos-making and finds it to be good. The newly created Adam and Eve, the "two blessed" of the title, bath together in the nude in all innocence, unaware of the tragedy that lies in store for them once they discover the fruit-bearing tree and the serpent in the lower left corner of this painted paradise. The new image of Eden before the Fall can be found on the Frank Humphrey Allen profile page in the Sacred Artists section. (John Kohan)