3-098-325 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Abel's Sacrifice, c1667-c1668. Biblical scene from the Book of Genesis. Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices, each from his own fields, to God. God had regard for Abel's offering, but had no regard for Cain's. Cain killed Abel and God judged it murder, cursing Cain and sentencing him to a life of transience. One of a series of canvases depicting episodes from the Old Testament, painted by Escalante between 1667 and 1668 for the sacristy of the Merced Calzada in Madrid.