Christ's Cross and Adam's Tree

Norman Adams (1927‑2005)

Christ's Cross and Adam's Tree

1989

Oil paint on canvas

1270 x 1526 mm Frame: 1415 x 1670 x 70 mm

Tate Britain, London

We think that Paradise and Calvary,
Christ’s Cross and Adam’s tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;
As the first Adam’s sweat surrounds my face,
May the Last Adam’s blood my soul embrace.  

From Hymn to God my God, in my Sickness   by John Donne (d. 1631)

12 Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned—  

13 for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law.  

14 But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come.  

15 But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many.  

16 And the gift is not like the result of the one person’s sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.   

17 For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ.  

18 In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.  

19 For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.  

20 The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,  

21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Romans 5: 12 - 21

In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, beneath the The Chapel and Altar of the Crucifixion is The Chapel of Adam. It reflects the tradition that Jesus was crucified over the place where Adam's skull was buried.