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Depicting a passage from Genesis rarely illustrated in art, this canvas shows how God punished Cain for killing his brother Abel by condemning him and his family to wander through a hostile wilderness (Genesis 4, 11-16). Veronese situates the action in a desolate setting with only a tree. Wearing a lion skin and holding a club, Cain watches as his wife breast-feeds their son, sheltered by a boulde
This is a late work by Veronese, characterised by its marked formal and chromatic austerity. It also reveals the profound spiritual and emotional intensity of the artist’s late religious compositions. They are devoid of any anecdotal detail that might distract the viewer, who is encouraged to imitate the hermit saint in his meditation on the death of Christ.
