Gender and shame in Masaccio's 'Expulsion from the Garden of Eden'

An analysis of the gesture of Adam and Eve in Masaccio's Expulsion from the Garden of Eden and their contrapuntal relationship to each other indicates that they depict the primeval couple's shame according to traditional gender stereotypes. According to these stereotypes, the man, as a primarily rational being, experiences intellectual (or spiritual) shame and thus covers his face (or head) as the seat of reason, whereas the woman, as a primarily carnal being, experiences sexual shame and thus covers her erogenous zones. Overlapping and reinforcing this interpretation is another, grounded in anthropology, which argues that the representations of Adam and Eve are informed by Mediterranean concepts of honour and shame.