 Italian School Cain Killing Abel, mid-17th century Oil on canvas Gift of the Miyabara and Oguri children in memory of
their parents, Kashiro and Ichi Miyabara and Kanzo
and Augusta Oguri, 1991 (6224.1) The biblical narrative of Cain and Abel, the first two
children of Adam and Eve, is a well-known one: after
God refuses Cain’s sacrifice and accepts Abel’s, Cain
retaliates by murdering his brother. Cain Killing Abel,
shows the story’s dramatic climax, as Cain raises the
jaw of an animal with the intent to bludgeon Abel, who
looks imploringly to his brother. Likely influenced by
the style of Caravaggio, an Italian painter known for
his groundbreaking use of chiaroscuro and drama, the
artist of this painting heighten the tension of the
fratricidal scene by theatrically illuminating Abel’s
vulnerable body just moments before his death. |