A visual Journey into the Bible The Book of Genesis

A Visual Journey into the Bible Page: 30
Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel
Jacopo Robusti called Tintoretto (1519-1594). Galleria dell’Accademia. Venice.
Around 1550-1563.
The first-born child of Adam and Eve was called Cain and his brother was Abel. Cain
worked the land and Abel became a shepherd. When they grew up, Cain brought the
produce of the land to offer to Yahweh and Abel brought the first-born of his flock.
Yahweh favoured the offerings of Abel but he did not look with favour at Cain’s gifts.
Cain became very angry and depressed. Yahweh asked why Cain was angry, but Cain
did not answer. He merely proposed to Abel to go out with him. When the brothers
were well in the country, Cain killed Abel.
Yahweh asked to Cain, ‘Where is your brother’ Cain answered that he did not know
and that he was not supposed to be the guardian of his brother. But Yahweh knew,
and told Cain that the blood of his brother was crying out from the ground. Yahweh
told Cain that he would be banned and cursed. He told that the ground would no
longer yield its strengths to Cain. Yahweh condemned Cain to become a wanderer.
Cain pleaded to Yahweh, complaining that this was an unbearable punishment. Not
only would he have to wander about the earth, he had to hide from Yahweh and
whomever he met would kill him. Yahweh then put a mark on Cain and told that
whoever would kill Cain would suffer vengeance sevenfold.
Cain later had a son, Enoch, who became the founder of a city called after him. Enoch
had a son from whose line emerged Jabal, the ancestor of musicians. Jabal’s brother
was called Tubal-Cain and he was the ancestor of the iron and copper smiths.
Adam however had another son, called Seth. From Seth would descend Noah and
from Noah’s sons the whole earth was peopled. From his direct lineage came Terah
and his son Abraham.
Jacopo Robusti was born in Venice in 1519. His father was a dyer of silk materials, so
Jacopo was called Tintoretto. The boy had talents for drawing, so he trained as a
painter and may even have worked for a short time in the most famous workshop of
Venice, Titian’s. Already in 1539 he seems to have become a master of his own. The
first works of Tintoretto also established his fame. They were a ‘Last Supper’ made in
1547 for the church of San Marcuola and especially the ‘Miracle of Saint Mark’ in
1548, painted for the Scuola di San Marco. In the beginning of the 1550’s he worked
for the Scuola della Trinità and at that time also he married a girl named Faustina
Episcopi. She was the daughter of Marco Episcopi, who had been Guardian Grande of
the Scuola di San Marco for which Jacopo also made his first major work. Through
Copyright ©: René Dewil Date: October, 24 2000