''The First Mourning'' (in French ''Premier Deuil'') is an oil on canvas painted in 1888 by

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

. Its dimensions are . It is in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. This work depicts the moment after Adam and

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

just found the body of their son

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd ...

, who was murdered by Cain. This is the first human death recorded in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. Bouguereau had suffered the loss of his second son shortly before painting this work.Art Renewal
Retrieved on March 26, 2011 Its original name is "''Premier Deuil''", in French, of which "''The First Mourning''" is a literal translation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Mourning, The 1888 paintings Paintings depicting Adam and Eve Paintings by William-Adolphe Bouguereau Culture in Buenos Aires Cultural depictions of Cain and Abel Cultural depictions of Adam and Eve Paintings about death Christian art about death Paintings in Argentina Paintings depicting Cain and Abel