The Sacrifice of Cain and Abel, compositional study

Those of Tkadlik’s works from the end of his Prague period and start of his Viennese stay are amongst those in which the artist explored the options for the non-narrative treatment of the human body in painting and strove to substantiate the theme of the painting purely through creative means. He had acquired the craft skills for these works through the academic studies of nude figures, particularly staged figures, for which it was customary to stylize the model into a certain role, not only through finding specific typical poses, but also through the use of appropriate props.