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Cain Slaying Abel

ca. 1650–52
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 623

This vigorous composition depicts the first murder in human history according to the Bible: a fratricide motivated by jealousy between the sons of Adam and Eve. Seventeenth-century collectors and artists were fascinated by such moral dramas culminating in violent action. Mola’s landscape reinforces the subject’s inherent intensity through smoke and light from the nearby fire that rises along the tree trunk and foliage before merging into the branches and sky. It embodies Mola’s moody, even romantic, interpretation of Roman classicism.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Cain Slaying Abel
  • Artist: Pier Francesco Mola (Italian, Coldrerio 1612–1666 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1650–52
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 54 3/4 × 35 7/16 in. (139 × 90 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Alan M. May, in memory of his wife, Marcia W. May, and in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2020
  • Object Number: 2020.112
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Youth Reading, Pier Francesco Mola Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
Youth Reading
Pier Francesco Mola
1612–66
Figure of a Man, Pier Francesco Mola Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
Figure of a Man
Pier Francesco Mola
1612–66
Washerwomen, Pier Francesco Mola Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray and brown washes
Washerwomen
Pier Francesco Mola
1612–66
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, the Holy Family at right with two angels, putti overhead
Pier Francesco Mola
Francesco Albani
ca. 1647–66
Forest Scene, a Halt at the Left, a Hunt at the Center, Pier Francesco Mola Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, over black chalk
Forest Scene, a Halt at the Left, a Hunt at the Center
Pier Francesco Mola
1612–66

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