Man having been placed in Eden, Gabriel is stationed with a heavenly guard to protect him. Uriel, having seen from afar Satan on his way to earth, comes down to put Gabriel more strictly on his guard. The artist has rendered the surroundings of the scene with striking fidelity.
“Meanwhile, Uriel comes before the Archangel Gabriel, at the gate of Eden, and tells him about the shape-changing spirit that he saw from the hilltop. They both suspect that it might be one of the fallen ones. Gabriel promises that if the spirit is in the garden, they will find it by morning. Around this time, Adam and Eve finish their day’s work. They go to their leafy bower, praising God and each other for their blissful life, and after a short prayer, they lie together—making love without sin, because lust had not yet tainted their natures.
Night falls, and Gabriel sends search parties into the Garden. Two of his angels find Satan, disguised as a toad, whispering into the ear of Eve as she sleeps. They pull him before Gabriel, who recognizes him, and demands to know what he is doing in Paradise. Satan at first feigns innocence, as they have no proof that he means harm. But Gabriel knows him to be a liar, and threatens to drag him back to Hell. Enraged by this threat, Satan prepares to fight him. The two square off for a decisive battle, but a sign from Heaven—the appearance in the sky of a pair of golden scales—stops them. Satan recognizes the sign as meaning he could not win, and flies off.”
“So numberless were those bad Angels seen / Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell” (Illustration for John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1674), Book 1) 1866 Engraving Ed.Orig. (Ed. Lic.: CC0 1.0)
