The Family of Cain

After Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari) Italian

ca. 1638–47

Not on view

Peter Oliver, the leading miniature painter at the court of Charles I, established his reputation with a series of small watercolor copies after old master paintings in the collections of the king and his nobles. "The Family of Cain" reproduces a painting by Paolo Veronese (Museo del Prado, Madrid) presumably in England at that time. No finished watercolor version of this preparatory study is known, but extensive color notes on the back of the sheet suggest that such a work was planned. The assured, softly rendered forms typify Oliver's mature style, with his early, linear manner tempered by close study of Venetian art. The Old Testament subject concerns Cain who has murdered his brother Abel, and now lives as a fugitive with his wife and infant son Enoch in the Land of Nod, east of Eden (Genesis 4.15-17).

Artwork Details

Title: The Family of Cain
Artist: Peter Oliver (British, London 1589–1647 Isleworth, Middlesex)
Artist: After Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari) (Italian, Verona 1528–1588 Venice)
Date: ca. 1638–47
Medium: Pen and black and brown ink, brush and gray wash over red chalk, highlighted with white gouache (bodycolor)
Dimensions: sheet: 7 1/16 x 10 11/16 in. (18 x 27.1 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, David L. Klein Jr. Memorial Foundation Gift and Ian Woodner Family Collection Fund, 2000
Object Number: 2000.109
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) — Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, Jacques Louis David French, Black chalk, pen and black and brown ink, brush and gray and brown wash, heightened with white gouache — The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons
Jacques Louis David
1787

Dune Landscape with Oak Tree, Jacob van Ruisdael Dutch, Black chalk, brush and gray wash, and gouache; framing lines in pen and brown ink — Dune Landscape with Oak Tree
Jacob van Ruisdael
1650–55

Portrait of Emma Hamilton, Angelica Kauffmann Swiss, Black and white chalk, on gray prepared paper — Portrait of Emma Hamilton
Angelica Kauffmann
Lady Emma Hamilton
1791

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.