Temptation Transformed

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Adam, Eve, the Serpent, the Garden of Eden...and the apple. That fruit is one of the most potent symbols in all of human history. It is so closely tied to temptation, knowledge, the "Fall of Man, " and sin that it needs no explanation when deployed in everything from art to advertising to movies. It's no secret that the fruit in the Book of Genesis is never actually identified as an apple. So how did we get to this common association? The standard story, repeated since at least the seventeenth century, is that it is due to a Latin pun. But what if that story is wrong? In Temptation Transformed, scholar of religion Azzan Yadin-Israel offers a different story. He examines how the Fall of Man was represented in art form early Christianity through the Renaissance, revealing that the iconography of the apple emerged in twelfth-century France. From there it spread to England, Germany, and the Low Countries, while remaining only a marginal presence in Italy and Spain for centuries. Armed with the when and where, Yadin-Israel then explains why the apple tradition arose and circulated as it did. Surprisingly, the answer is found in the evolution of Europe's vernaculars. Three centuries is a long time to labor under a misconception, especially one that involves the most prominent biblical symbol other than the cross. Through an interdisciplinary engagement of scholastic commentary, Christian iconography, and Fall of Man narratives, Temptation Transformed offers a long-overdue corrective"--