The Expulsion

Created by Henry Wiles (1838–1930) in White marble; 1871. Inscribed on back right corner of base: ‘Henry Wiles/Sculptor/LONDON 1871’; and on the front and back of the socle: They hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.” This figure group shows a remorseful Adam and Eve makingtheir way out of the Garden of Eden, having disobeyed God and been expelled from paradise. The quotation on the base is the very 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 is one of the most influential poems ever written in the English language. This sculpture is dated 1871, and so must have been produced immediately after Wiles’ return from Italy. It was bequeathed to the Museum by the Reverend Blore in 1885, just 14 years after it was made, so it is likely that he was the first owner and perhaps commissioned the work. Bequeathed by Rev. E.W. Blore, Senior Fellow of Trinity College, in 1885 (M.2-1885)