Cainus fratri necem molitur (Cain kills his brother), Plate I from Battles from the Old Testament

Rome: Nicolas van Aelst, 1613. Engraving on cream laid paper with a foolscap watermark, 11 1/4 x 8 inches (282 x 203 mm), thread margins. Scattered expert repairs including minor pulp patches, minor rubbing and one 1/4 inch area of in-painting in the top left margin, in the area of the God's robes. All condition issues are consistent with age, and do not present significantly on the recto. A fascinating depiction from the Book of Genesis.

[Bartsch XVII.129.236]. Antonio Tempesto's Cainus fratri necem molitur is an extremely interesting composition that tells the story of Cain and Abel, the first born sons of Adam and Eve, in four visual chapters.

The story begins in the far background to the right of the central action. An intimation of the the recent past, we see Cain, a farmer, and Abel, a shepherd, making their sacrifices to God. Cain offers the fruits of the land, while Abel offers the first born lamb from his flock. God prefers Abel's offering, and shows favor to him. Cain, dejected, invites Abel into the fields, where he slays his brother in jealousy. The moment is depicted with intensity in the right foreground of Tempesto's composition where we see the moment that Cain raises his hand in anger to bludgeon Abel with a donkey jaw. The setting is a field replete with animals living in harmony, except for two hares frightened into flight by the violence, and in the recess between the figures of Cain and Abel we see a hound, a symbol of loyalty, looking on at the murder with his head bowed in shame. God, who witnessed the crime, punishes Cain by banishing him to wander restlessly for the rest of his life in the Land of Nod (east of Eden). This can be seen unfolding in the left foreground of the image. God then marks Cain so that no person taking pity on him will end his life, seen here as the bookend closing this chapter of the story in the far-left background. This work is an exceptionally engaging and technically complex tableau depicting the first death in the Bible. Although the plate was created in 1630, dating of the watermark indicates that this impression was likely printed between 1640 and 1725.