How do Adam and Eve’s gestures in Masaccio’s Expulsion from Paradise express emotion?

In Masaccio’s Expulsion from Paradise, the figures of Adam and Eve are depicted with highly dramatic and expressive movements that powerfully convey their deep anguish upon being cast out of the Garden of Eden.1

Rather than relying on line alone, Masaccio uses strongly differentiated areas of light and shadow to create a sense of three-dimensional relief, which enhances the psychological intensity of their gestures. These expressive movements serve to ground the figures in a realistic, human experience, effectively communicating the emotional weight of their exile and adding a profound psychological dimension to the work's physical realism.12