In The Discovery of Adam and Eve, Barry shows a scene described by Milton (Book X, lines 85–208) in which, after the Fall of Man, Christ descends to earth as intercessor. There he finds Adam and Eve hiding in a grove. Adam points accusingly at Eve while she indicates the serpent as the cause of the problem. Like many of the other subjects in Milton’s epic, The Discovery of Adam and Eve allowed Barry to depict the heroic nudes that are at the core of both the classical academic tradition as well as much of his own work.

from Bindman, No Cross, No Crown: Prints by James Barry from the Collection of William L. and Nancy Pressly (Notre Dame, 2016)