Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Murder of Abel
A standing man looks towards a fallen body in a rocky hollow under a turbulent sky. The two figures are separated by a pale strip of ground, making the aftermath of violence the scene’s centre. Doré gives the landscape a scale much greater than either brother, with dark cliffs and clouds enclosing the encounter. The caption identifies Cain’s killing of Abel. Rather than picturing the blow itself, the design holds the viewer at the moment when the survivor faces what he has done.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Murder of Abel" [editorial title]. In The Bible Gallery, Gustave Dore; Talbot W. Chambers. Undated Cassell & Company edition; one hundred illustrations with supplied descriptive letterpress, undated edition, Cassell & Company, Limited. Source scan leaf 21. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/bible-dore-20
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Complete plate reviewed against the scan; printed caption supplies subject. Crop excludes surrounding paper and separate caption without changing scan tone. Letterpress theology is not adopted as historical proof.
Sources
From the book
The Bible GalleryGustave Dore; Talbot W. ChambersUndated editionMore from this book
All 98 illustrations
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Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). The Murder of Abel. The Bible Gallery. Scan leaf 21. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/bible-dore-20