This is among Maillol's earliest sculptures, showing Eve holding an apple and turning as if to offer it to Adam. Nearly all Maillol's sculptures are of female nudes, simply standing, sitting or kneeling. The dominant force in European sculpture at the turn of the century was the work of Auguste Rodin. However, Maillol rejected the movement and expression of Rodin's sculpture for a style of balance, harmony and quiet restraint. It was the calm classicism of Maillol's work, which made his work distinct from most nineteenth-century sculptors.