ABSTRACT

The obvious point of departure for a consideration of Eve is the Bible itself. In the Middle Ages, when Hebrew scholarship was rare amongst Christians, this was best known in its Latin translation, the Vulgate of St Jerome (c.347-419).1 In 1298, Pope Boniface VIII declared Jerome to be one of the four doctors of the church (along with Ambrose, Augustine, and Gregory the Great), and his fame was refl ected in his frequent depiction in manuscripts, as well as in works of art (by, amongst others, Fra Filippo Lippi, Hieronymus Bosch, and the Limbourg Brothers).