Entertaining – but there’s one abomination: National Gallery’s Sin reviewed

Obviously, we’re living through an era of censorious puritanism. Granted, the contemporary creeds are different from those of the 16th century. But the imperious self–righteousness is much the same — which gives the entertaining little exhibition at the National Gallery entitled Sin an unexpectedly contemporary edge.

Personally, I’ve always thought that the doctrine of original sin has a great deal of explanatory power (it explains why history can’t ‘end’ and plenty of things will always go wrong — because that’s the way people are). Arguably, the medieval list of deadly failings — anger, pride, sloth, etc — provides a better summary of human nature than many later attempts. At any rate, all seven are still both prevalent and virulent (see news and social media, passim).

According to this traditional point of view, a painting such as Cranach’s ‘Adam and Eve’ (1526) depicts the moment when sin gets going. The picture also illustrates, beautifully, something many of us still believe: namely that the natural world is good and innocent (rather than full of creatures rending each other with tooth and claw).