Cain’s Fratricide
around 1610 | Bartolomeo Manfredi
Adam and Eve’s offspring, the farmer Cain and the shepherd Abel, both offered sacrifice to God, but only Abel’s sacrifice received mercy. Cain, furious and jealous, went out to the field with his younger brother and murdered him there. Previously seen as a work of Guido Reni, the picture appears to be an early work of the Caravaggio successor Manfredi. The way the figures are intertwined indicates a continuation of compositional principles from Mannerist painting of the 16th century.
Adam and Eve’s offspring, the farmer Cain and the shepherd Abel, both offered sacrifice to God, but only Abel’s sacrifice received mercy. Cain, furious and jealous, went out to the field with his younger brother and murdered him there. Previously seen as a work of Guido Reni, the picture appears to be an early work of the Caravaggio successor Manfredi. The way the figures are intertwined indicates a continuation of compositional principles from Mannerist painting of the 16th century.
Artist:
Bartolomeo Manfredi (1582 Ostiano/Mantua - um 1622 Rom) DNB
Time:
around 1610
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Caravaggio and Caravaggesque painting
Material/technology:
Canvas
Dimensions:
152 cm × 115 cm
Framed: 173 cm × 136 cm × 6 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 363
Provenance
Probably 1638-1649 Coll. Hamilton; Coll. Leopold Wilhelm