Scenes from the Life of Cain

The rather dry, linear style of this relief is typical of the Paduan school in the second half of the 15th century, in the wake of Donatello's sojourn in that city (1443-1453). Depicted are scenes from the life of Cain, the eldest son of Adam and Eve. In the center, Cain and his brother Abel offer burnt sacrifices of wheat and a lamb, respectively. The Lord's dissatisfaction with Cain's sacrifice threw him into a fit of jealousy and rage, and he is shown killing his younger brother. At the top, in the center of the relief, God curses Cain for his wickedness, condemning him to a life of wandering and misery; to the right of center Cain takes his leave while casting an anxious look over his right shoulder. At far right the blind hunter Lamech, of the seventh generation of mankind, is directed by his son Tubal Cain to shoot at what the boy mistakes as a beast caught in a thicket: in fact it is the sleeping Cain, Lamech's great great great grandfather, who will be inadvertently killed by his descendant.