Cain

The work was commissioned for the Picture Gallery of the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts and received in 1885. Liška painted this picture towards the end of his study stay in Munich. The well-known story of the biblical fratricide was a frequent and welcome subject for both literature and art. The painter was certainly familiar with Byron's drama "Cain" and with Vrchlický's poem "Sandalfon" - Byron was an important source of inspiration and Vrchlický a close friend. Although Liška handled the motif in the spirit of contemporaneous German Naturalism, he endowed it with a mood charged with emotions. A striking feature of the naked, miserable Cain, lying on a deserted rocky shore, are brilliant contours, elegant drawing, minute details of the highly emotional landscape and, above all, an original colour scheme and effective harmonious light. The whole scene bespeaks Liška's refined painting technique and a feeling for effect in the rendering of his mystical and religious world.