Gemini For Museums: Visually Comparing A Scheits Bible Engraving: The Original 1672 Stern & 1710 Halma Reengraving

The Scheits suite of Biblical engravings is one of the most famous and reproduced series of depictions of major Biblical scenes, continuously reprinted, reengraved and reimagined and making appearances in countless Bibles over the years. The first printing of the suite was in the 1672 Stern Bible in which it was printed inline with the text to make an illustrated Bible, but in 1710 Halma published a picture Bible compilation of the engravings that featured reduced-size reengravings of the scenes. Let's see how well Gemini 3.1 Pro and Gemini 3.8 Flash do when asked to compare the two engravings side-by-side and identify their major differences. Here we see that 3.8 Flash massively outperformed 3.1 Pro at this visual reasoning task, which is in line with what we've been observing across the board in our experiments to date.

Below is the original engraving from the 1672 Stern Bible:

And the reduced-size reengraving of the image in the 1710 Halma:

Gemini 3.1 Pro offers only a very basic and cursory comparison:

Here is a detailed comparison of the differences between the two engravings:

• • Top Text and Framing: The file "20260924_142858.jpg" features an English title, "The Murther of Abel. Gen. IV. 8.", which is enclosed within an engraved upper border inside the image frame. Conversely, "20260924_142904.jpg" lacks this internal border and title, instead displaying German page headers ("…dam.", "Genesis.", "Das I. Buch", "Cap. IV.") printed entirely outside and above the image block.

  • Bottom Captions and Context: In "20260924_142858.jpg", there is a single line of bilingual text beneath the image—French ("Cain tue Son frere Habel") and Dutch ("Kain slaat zynen broeder Habel doot.")—along with the notation "V.I. 3." in the bottom right corner. In "20260924_142904.jpg", the image sits above two columns of dense, printed German biblical verses (Genesis 4:9-14) rather than a single caption line.

  • Artist Signatures: "20260924_142904.jpg" contains explicit artist attributions engraved directly into the lower-left foreground near Abel's arm, reading "M. Scheits del." and "Melchior Kusell sculp.". These signatures are completely absent in "20260924_142858.jpg".

  • Left-Side Composition and Cropping: The far-left background differs slightly due to the image boundaries. In "20260924_142858.jpg", the structure on the middle-left edge appears as a flat, block-like form abruptly cut off by the border. "20260924_142904.jpg" displays a slightly wider left margin that reveals a more detailed, stepped wall structure extending further out of the frame.

  • Border Thickness: The bounding box surrounding the illustration in "20260924_142858.jpg" is a distinct, thick double-line border. The border enclosing the scene in "20260924_142904.jpg" is a thinner, simpler single line.

Whereas Gemini 3.8 Flash offers an extensively detailed visual comparison:

These two prints share the exact same composition because Image 2 is a later, re-engraved copy of the original 17th-century master engraving shown in Image 1.

1. Inscriptions, Borders, and Attribution

• • Signatures:

    • Image 1: Features the original artist and engraver signatures etched directly into the dirt in the lower-middle foreground: “M. Scheits del.” (Matthias Scheits, designer) and “Melchior Küsel sculps.” (Melchior Küsel, engraver).

    • Image 2: The artist signatures have been completely removed / omitted from the ground.

  • Marginal Text & Framing:

    • Image 1: Printed on a Bible page with German letterpress header above (“Adam. Genesis. Das 1. Buch Cap. IV.”) and two columns of German Fraktur Bible text directly beneath the image plate.

    • Image 2: Contained within an integral plate border frame designed for an international picture Bible:

      • Top border: English title “The Murther of Abel. Gen. IV. 8.”

      • Bottom border: French and Dutch captions: “Gen. IV. 8. Cain tue son frere Habel.” and “Kain slaat zynen broeder Habel doot.”

      • Bottom right margin: The plate index/sheet mark “9. I. 3.”

2. Line Quality, Contrast, and Tonal Depth

• • Image 1 (Küsel's Original): Demonstrates finer, softer etching and burin work. The gradations in the shadows across the flesh, sky, and ground are achieved through delicate, tightly spaced cross-hatching and subtle dotting (stippling).

  • Image 2 (The Re-engraved Copy): Has noticeably higher graphic contrast with thicker, stiffer, and more deeply incised contour lines. The shadows on the musculature and drapery are darker and less nuanced.

3. Figure Details: Cain and Abel

• • Cain’s Musculature and Club:

    • In Image 2, the muscle definition along Cain’s torso, rib cage, and thighs is delineated with heavier, more rigid outlines than the smoother modeled flesh in Image 1.

    • The knobby wooden club in Image 2 has darker, bolder contour edges along its bark and knots.

  • Cain’s Face and Garment:

    • Cain’s facial features (brow, deep-set eyes, and open mouth) are more expressive and delicately shaded in Image 1. In Image 2, his facial contours are heavier and slightly simplified.

    • The animal skin wrapped around Cain’s waist and shoulders shows individual hair texture via fine flicked lines in Image 1, whereas Image 2 renders them with broader, darker hatching strokes.

  • Abel’s Body and Hair:

    • Abel’s head and curls in Image 1 are soft and blended into the shadowed ground. In Image 2, the curls of his hair and the contour of his chin/neck are distinctly re-outlined.

    • The wooden block/log supporting Abel's back shows fine wood grain and end-grain rings in Image 1, which are rendered with simpler, heavier strokes in Image 2.

4. Animals and Foreground Foliage

• • The Dog:

    • In Image 1, the dog's coat texture is rendered with tiny, delicate flecks, and its cast shadow on the ground is soft and graduated.

    • In Image 2, the ribs, hind leg muscles, and tail of the dog have heavier cross-hatching, and the shadow beneath its belly and paws is noticeably darker and starker.

  • Foreground Plant (Bottom Right):

    • The thistle/burdock-like leaves in Image 1 merge subtly into the cross-hatched earthen bank.

    • In Image 2, the leaf ribs and spiky tips have prominent, sharp white-against-black highlights and stiffer outlines.

  • Sheep and Distant Flocks (Center-Left):

    • The pair of sheep in the middle ground (near Cain's right knee) have soft, curled stippling indicating woolly fleece in Image 1. In Image 2, their body outlines are firm, and the woolly texture is flattened.

5. Landscape, Sky, and Background

• • The Cloud Column:

    • The towering smoke-like cumulus cloud rising behind Cain is rendered in Image 1 with soft, billowing edges and painterly transitions.

    • In Image 2, the lobes and billows of the clouds have more pronounced, sharply incised curving outlines, giving them a slightly harder, more segmented appearance.

  • The Stone Altar (Right):

    • The stone altar on the right in Image 2 shows heavier horizontal line shading on its side facing the viewer, and the rubble/offerings scattered on the ground immediately below it are rendered with darker, more contrasting spots and stones than in Image 1.

  • Distant Sacrificial Altar (Far Left):

    • On the far left horizon (behind the sheep enclosure), a small plume of smoke rises from an altar. In Image 1, this smoke is faint and atmospheric; in Image 2, the plume is darker, with heavier vertical hatching.