Adam and Eve Labouring

The picture shows a relief on the west fa�ade of the cathedral of San Geminiano in Modena.

Master Wiligelmo worked from 1099 for the cathedral architect Lanfranco in Modena. We know his name due to the inscription which he left over one of the four fa�ade reliefs whose theme is essentially the Book of Genesis. These four reliefs are the starting point of Romanesque sculpture in Italy, and the return to the Classical style is characteristic of Wiligelmo’s figures.

The curse of manual labour fell chiefly on the peasants. It was looked down upon both by the traditional monastic orders, whose only manual activity was the copying and transcribing of manuscripts, and by the knightly classes. However, there are signs that in the twelfth century this attitude was being questioned, with a greater emphasis being placed on the redemptive potential of work. It has been suggested that this change of emphasis is reflected in the unusual labouring scene in the sculptural frieze at Modena cathedral, in which both Adam and Eve, dressed as peasants, till the soil with hoes.