'Cain Degraded' is one of the artist's earliest works reflecting the themes for which Scott became most renowned. The painting illustrates a scene from Genesis, chapter four in the 'Old Testament', when Cain is cursed by the Lord after murdering his brother Abel. 'And now art thou cursed from the earth… a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.' In the foreground the monumental male figure of Cain, naked but for a loin cloth and Hebrew marks on his forehead, staggers toward the viewer with his hands clasped over his ears. He is set within a barren rocky landscape and to his left in the middle-ground are three male figures that appear to be hurling insults and gesturing violently to him.