Michelangelo used the same device of continuous narrative for this large panel of "The Fall of Man and the Expulsion from Paradise" that he used in "The Creation of the Plants, the Sun and the Moon." The tale begins on the left, with the figure of Adam grabbing the branches of a tree while Eve sits beneath him. Eve reaches behind her to take the apple from the serpent , while Adam stretches to grasp one of the serpent in the tree on to the right, where the couple can be seen as they are cast out of Paradise.
The landscape is barren, almost inhospitable, with only a few rocks surrounding the figures, with the exception of the one tree where the serpent lurks. This is an unusal depiction of Paradise, contrasting with the verdant foliage and lush vegetation that can been in traditional representations of the story, or even in the 15th frescoes that line the second tier of the Sistine chapel. Throughout the work there is a noticeable lack of detailed background or landscapes; Michelangelo's priority was always the natural and realistic depiction of the human form.
