Rev. Dennis McNally is the head of the art department at Saint Joseph's University. He is a Jesuit, a professor, and an artist. Most of his artwork deals with religious themes and there is a good amount of his artwork that depicts issues and stories from the Hebrew Bible. He believes that religion and artwork are two elements that go hand in hand. Individual artists can use their own religious backgrounds and knowledge to interpret the biblical stories in their work. Rev. Dennis McNally has an extensive background in both the Bible and art, this can be seen in his pieces.
Adam, eve, Cain and Abel
The above image is a painting by Dennis McNally of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. All four of these characters are important in the Hebrew Bible. The book of Genesis deals with Adam and Eve. They are both created by God and given the Garden of Eden to live in. The only thing that God tells them is not to eat from the tree of knowledge in the garden. Eve takes the first bite of the fruit from the forbidden tree and then gives it to Adam to eat. The result of this is that they are expelled from the Garden. The text relates to the hard times that the Israelites were facing at the time the story was written. Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve. The story of Cain and Abel is also in the book of Genesis. Cain murders his brother Abel. He is the first person to commit a murder. All of these people are looked at as sinners in the light of the people reading the stories. The painting by McNally is part of a series about sinners and rejects in the Bible. All of the above characters were seen not only as sinners in the Bible but as the first sinners. This painting is the beginning to the start of his series.