Adam appears seated. He tries to keep Eve from taking the prohibited apple that the serpent offers her. The scene is based on the Old Testament story (Genesis 3, 1-6) of Man's fall from grace when, after disobeying God's orders, Adam and Eve were expulsed from Paradise.

The anthropomorphic figures — the serpent, the fox and a boy-snake offering an apple— symbolize evil.

Among the compositional referents for this work are Raphael's frescos at the Stanza della Signatura in the Vatican, and the engraving on the same subject by Albrecht Dürer.

This work belonged to Antonio Pérez and entered the Royal Collection in 1585. In 1628 and 1629, Rubens made a copy that is also in the Prado Museum (P1692).