Cain Killing Abel

By the end of the sixteenth century, Jan Muller was one of the most sought-after printmakers in the northern Netherlands. He modeled his engraving style on that of Hendrick Goltzius, with whom he briefly worked in about 1589 or was perhaps apprenticed to. By that time, Muller had perfected Goltzius’s bravura technique, varying the pressure on his burin to create lines that tapered and swelled dramatically. This technique of engraving was perfectly suited to translating the over-muscled bodies and complex poses that were the hallmarks of the Mannerist artists, particularly Cornelis Cornelisz., the principal painter in the city of Haarlem.


Based on a lost composition by Cornelis, Muller’s engraving of Cain Killing Abel captures the moment just before Cain actually strikes his brother. It presents the Old Testament scene from a strikingly low and close viewpoint, and like other works by the artist, lovingly describes the contorted poses and straining bodies of the two nude protagonists. In the middle distance, Muller shows a later moment in the narrative, when Cain is banished from Eden for the murder of Abel. Muller made six engravings after Cornelis and impressions of four are in the Met. In addition to the present work they include Arion on a Dolphin (56.597.5), The Fight Between Ulysses and Irus (56.597.6) and The Three Fates Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos (56.597.7).