Labour of the First Men. Cain and Abel

Accompanying the synthetic, allusive force in this scene is an acute decorative sense that, without free divagation, underlines in the elegance of its detail the breath of a fabulous narration where man is symbolised in an apologetic way. The panel illustrates the biblical verse of man being condemned to work: “to gain one’s bread with the sweat of one’s brow” and the killing of Abel by his brother.