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Hieronymus Bosch (Jeroen van Aken, ca 1450-1516), The Garden of Earthly Delights, triptych (ca 1500), left wing.
Prado Museum, Madrid.
On the left wing, the Fountain of Life rises in the middle, surrounded by fabulous creatures, including giraffe, elephant, unicorn and fanciful amphibians coming out of the water. On the foreground we witness the marriage of Adam and Eve by God, taking Eve by the hand and presenting her to the newly awakened Adam. However, it is not all peace and harmony in this paradise. The law of eat or be eaten is here already pictured. Below the marriage scene, some of the beasts depicted are caught up by stronger ones in the struggle for existence that will become the fate of Nature after the Fall.