About this artwork
This violent subject became popular during the early part of the seventeenth century, particularly among the followers of Caravaggio, whose influence is visible here in the dramatic lighting and bold foreshortenings. The attribution of this picture has been much debated, but its close connection to a painting of Cain Fleeing from the Body of Abel formerly in the Corsini collection in Florence and now in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Rome, has long been recognised. That picture has recently been convincingly attributed to the Sicilian Pietro Novelli, an attribution that applies equally well to this work.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Pietro Novelli (1603 - 1647) Italian
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title:Cain Killing Abel
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date created:Second quarter of 17th century
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:190.00 x 143.00 cm; Framed: 211.70 x 164.60 x 9.20 cm / 40.00 kg
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object type:
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credit line:Presented to the RI by Sir Alexander Crichton 1833; transferred 1859
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accession number:NG 21
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gallery:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Pietro Novelli
Pietro Novelli
Novelli was by a considerable margin the most important and gifted native Sicilian painter of the first half of the seventeenth century. He was also active later in his career as an architect and military engineer. He trained initially with his father Pietro Antonio, a painter and mosaicist, and...