I now know it for sure.  Painting this still life made it very clear:  it wasn't an apple that got Eve and Adam into trouble in Paradise.  That fruit of temptation had to have been a tomato.  

Earlier this summer, as part of the BardSummerscape program, I saw a performance by the Pam Tanowitz Dance Company.  The program began with a piece called Broken Story (wherein there is no ecstasy).  I was struck by the bright white and silver light that filled the stage as the dancers danced.  I wanted to do a painting that included that light.

Two of the "lead dancers" in my painting are glasses that my mother gave to me.  They were given to her by her brother, my uncle, as a wedding present.  This painting is a memory piece.  Painting these objects, putting them down on canvas, is a way of preserving cherished memories, memories from long ago and from earlier this summer.