Judith and Holofernes

This small panel gives a version of one of the Renaissance's favourite subjects: Judith, having just beheaded Holofernes, still holds the blade while a maid gathers the head into a sack. The scene takes place beneath the general's pink tent, of which only one of his feet is visible. Judith stands upright, almost like a classical statue, and her calm contrasts with the violence that has just occurred. The palette is bright and varied, with a finish recalling a miniature, and the floor of stone and earth slabs forms a diagonal perspective grid that organises the space. Its attribution is debated: the panel is dated by comparison with a group of Old Testament grisailles from about 1495 to 1500, and some scholars consider it an exercise by Mantegna or perhaps by a follower, though it is traditionally linked to the master. The work stands out for its blend of precise staging and restrained emotion, and because the same subject recurs in other versions associated with the artist, in Dublin, Montreal and a drawing in the Uffizi.

Painter

Andrea Mantegna

Date

1495

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

30 × 18 cm

Museum

Galería Nacional de Arte, Washington, D.C.

Genre

religious art

Depicts

beheaded head, Judith, woman

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