Dürer’s Cain Killing Abel
This woodcut by Dürer is known as Cain Killing Abel even though there is no way to know whether the scene is biblical or not. It might just as well be an ordinary scene of murder.
Durer, Cain Killing Abel (1511) Woodcut engraving on paper.
Click image to enlarge.
For viewers who know that the principal figure must be an alter ego of the artist, the placement of the artist’s monogram behind the blade of his weapon is crucial. It suggests that the blade is significant to the print’s meaning, which it is. This, after all, is not just any weapon but the axe of a woodcutter, the tree added as supporting evidence.
Click image to enlarge.
Thus, what we are seeing, is the creative struggle in Dürer’s mind as he imagines the engraving of his own woodcut, the actual work-in-process symbolized by the screaming victim. If the woodcut were complete, the victim would be dead.
More Works by Dürer
Notes:
Publication Date: 20 Apr 2010
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