Judith Beheading Holofernes

Judith Beheading Holofernes, painted around 1620 by Artemisia Gentileschi, depicts the biblical episode from the Book of Judith in which a Jewish widow and her maidservant Abra win the trust of the Assyrian general Holofernes, get him drunk and behead him to save Bethulia. According to the sources, the commission came from Cosimo II de' Medici, and the work is considered a reworking of an earlier, smaller version now in Naples. The scene is notably brutal: the focus falls on the physical effort of the killing, with blood spattering across the frame and two strong women pinning the general down. Chiaroscuro heightens the drama, and the maidservant is shown young, unlike earlier traditions. It is often read as a personal response to the rape Gentileschi suffered at the hands of Agostino Tassi, and the resemblance between her and Judith is usually taken as a hint of self-portraiture. Admired today, the painting was for centuries placed in a rather peripheral spot in its gallery.

Painter

Artemisia Gentileschi

Date

1620

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

199 × 162 cm

Museum

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Genre

religious art

Depicts

homicide, decapitation, Judith, woman, Holofernes, man

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