Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi, Naples)

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Judith Slaying Holofernes
Artemisia Gentileschi - Judith Beheading Holofernes - WGA8563.jpg
Artist Artemisia Gentileschi
Yearc. 1612-1613
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions158.8 cm× 125.5 cm((6' 6" X 5' 4") 78.33 in× 64.13 in)
Location Museo Capodimonte, Naples

Judith Slaying Holofernes is a painting by the Italian early Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, completed in 1612-13 and now at the Museo Capodimonte, Naples, Italy. [1] The picture is considered one of her iconic works. The canvas shows Judith beheading Holofernes. The subject takes an episode from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament, which recounts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite heroine Judith. The painting shows the moment when Judith, helped by her maidservant Abra, beheads the general after he has fallen asleep in a drunken stupor. She painted a second version now in the Uffizi, Florence, somewhere between 1613 and 1621. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early feminist critics interpreted the painting as a form of visual revenge following Gentileschi's rape by Agostino Tassi in 1611; similarly many other art historians see the painting in the context of her achievement in portraying strong women. [4]

Creation

Artemisia Gentileschi was around twenty years of age when she painted Judith Slaying Holofernes. Previously, Gentileschi had also completed Susanna and the Elders and Madonna and Child. These artworks already give an indication of Gentileschi's skill in representing body movement and facial expressions to express emotions. X-rays undertaken on the painting show that Gentileschi made several alterations to the painting (e.g. the position of Judith's arms, the position of the drapery) before it reached its current state. [5]

Sources and analysis

The episode of Judith beheading Holofernes is from a deuterocanonical book of the Bible. The episode is from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament, which recounts the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite heroine Judith. Gentileschi draws upon the most climactic part of the Book of Judith where the beheading takes place.

Judith Slaying Holofernes has been considered to be related to the Power of Woman theme. Historian Susan L. Smith defines the "power of woman" as "the representational practice of bringing together at least two, but usually more, well-known figures from the Bible, ancient history or romance to exemplify a cluster of interrelated themes that include the wiles of woman, the power of love and the trials of marriage. [6] Gentileschi plays into the "wiles of woman" in her painting by literally portraying Judith at the main point of her domination over a man. Judith is shown as a beautiful woman, which helped her entice Holofernes, and also as a fierce heroine.

The painting is relentlessly physical, from the wide spurts of blood to the energy of the two women as they perform the act. [1] The effort of the women's struggle is most finely represented by the delicate face of the maid, who is younger than in other treatments of the same theme, which is grasped by the oversized, muscular fist of Holofernes as he desperately struggles to survive. Judith Slaying Holofernes utilises deeper primary colours in comparison to the Florentine version. [7] Judith is shown wearing a cobalt blue dress with gold accents and her maidservant wears a red gown. Both women have their sleeves rolled up. As a follower of Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi makes use of chiaroscuro in the painting, with a dark background contrasting with the light shining directly on the scene of Judith beheading Holofernes.

History

Little is known of the painting's early history, however many scholars believe it was created while Artemisia was still living in Rome. [8] There is no information as of yet on the patron of this artwork. Its location was unknown until documented in the collection of Signora Saveria de Simone in Naples in 1827. [9] At some point in the painting's history, the left and top parts of the painting were cut off, leaving a curtailed version of the original painting. [4]

Renaissance

Donatello, Judith and Holofernes, c. 1457-1464. Bronze; 236cm Palazzo Vecchio, Florence Donatello-Judith and Holofernes-Palazzo Vecchio.jpg
Donatello, Judith and Holofernes, c. 1457–1464. Bronze; 236cm Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

The Renaissance had a long-standing history of portraying Judith. [7] Many artists believed that the heroine Judith held many different qualities like chastity and humility. [7] Lucas Cranach the Elder painted a very straightforward version of Judith now known as Judith with the Head of Holofernes. [7] Cranach's Judith is shown with a resolved look on her face as she holds a sword in her hand. She wears an ornate green dress and the viewer can only see up to her mid-thigh region. Her body is cut off due to a marble ledge where the head of Holofernes sits. There is no gushing blood and Judith seems to have made a clean cut through Holofernes' neck. The phlegmatic look on Judith's face contrasts the intensity of her beheading. [7] Gentileschi captures the emotions of Judith's face but maintains more medical accuracy with the blood that is spilling down the bed. She shows Judith in the act of beheading rather than showing her holding the head of Holofernes as Cranach did. [7]

Donatello contributed his own interpretation with his sculpture Judith and Holofernes where Judith is depicted towering over Holofernes with a sword over her head. Holofernes' body slumps over and his head is still attached to his body. Donatello's Judith and Holofernes sought to symbolize the theme of pride in Holofernes and stands as a cautionary tale to the Medici family. [10] Writer Roger J. Crum notes that, "Judith's gesture, pulling back the general's head, renders sure her next blow, it also makes the neck all the more visible. 'Behold the neck of pride' commanded the inscription, and Donatello's treatment facilitated compliance". [10] Unlike Donatello's sculpture, Gentileschi shows Judith triumphing over Holofernes in the climactic moment of the beheading. Gentileschi also chose to show Judith without a head-covering and includes Judith's maidservant.

Johann Liss. Judith in the Tent of Holofernes, c. 1622. Oil on canvas; 128.5 x 99 cm. The National Gallery, London Judith in the Tent of Holofernes by Johann Liss Budapest version.jpg
Johann Liss. Judith in the Tent of Holofernes, c. 1622. Oil on canvas; 128.5 x 99 cm. The National Gallery, London
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, c.1599. Oil on canvas; 145x195 cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini, Rome Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio.jpg
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, c.1599. Oil on canvas; 145x195 cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini, Rome

Baroque

Judith beheading Holofernes was a very popular story amongst Baroque artists. Artemisia Gentileschi's contemporary Johann Liss stayed abreast with the Baroque style by including macabre imagery in his painting, Judith in the Tent of Holofernes. The painting shows the headless body of Holofernes slumping over. Judith sweeps Holofernes's head into a basket showing a look of swiftness about her. The viewer can see the maidservant's head in the background while the rest of her body is unseen. She seems eager to see what directions Judith will give her next. [7] The decapitated body of Holofernes has blood gushing out of it, showing Liss's interest in the human body. [7] Gentileschi has a similar urgency in her painting but shows Judith in mid-decapitation rather than showing Holofernes headless body. Gentileschi also uses the same amount of bloodiness in her painting. [7]

Caravaggio Influence

Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes shows a different portrayal of this scene. Mary Gerrard points out that Caravaggio "reintroduced a narrative emphasis, but focusing now upon the dramatic rather than the epic features of the story and upon the human conflict between the two principal characters". [5] Caravaggio shows Holofernes holding the blood coming from his neck like a string. [7] Rather than making the scene of Holofernes's beheading more palatable for the viewers, Gentileschi differs by not holding back the gruesome imagery. Gentileschi also shows Judith putting her full efforts into the slaying, even by employing her maidservant. In both Caravaggio and Gentileschi's paintings there is a notable absence of decorative detail in the background. [11]

Judith beheading Holofernes has been depicted by a number of artists including Giorgione, Titian, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio.

Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes is believed to be the main inspiration of Gentileschi's work, [11] and his influence shows in the naturalism and violence she brings to her canvas.[ citation needed ]

Gentileschi painted another painting, Judith and her Maidservant (1613–14), which shows Judith holding a dagger while her maidservant carries a basket containing a severed head. Judith and her Maidservant is displayed in the Palazzo Pitti, in Florence. A further three paintings by Gentileschi, in Naples, Detroit and Cannes, show her maid covering the head of Holofernes, while Judith herself looks out the frame of the picture. Gentileschi's father and fellow painter, Orazio Gentileschi was also very much influenced by Caravaggio's style and painted his own version of the tale, Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes .

Historiography

There have been many different interpretations and viewpoints on Judith Slaying Holofernes by art historians and biographers alike. Art historian Mary Garrard believes that Judith Slaying Holofernes portrays Judith as a "socially liberated woman who punishes masculine wrongdoing". [12] Although the painting depicts a scene from the Bible, art historians have suggested that Gentileschi drew herself as Judith and her mentor Agostino Tassi, who was tried for and convicted of her rape, as Holofernes. Gentileschi's biographer Mary Garrard famously proposed an autobiographical reading of the painting, stating that it functions as "a cathartic expression of the artist's private, and perhaps repressed, rage". [13] Griselda Pollock suggests that the painting should be "read less in terms of its overt references to Artemisia’s experience than as an encoding of the artist's sublimated responses to events in her life and the historical context in which she worked." [14] More recent discussion of the painting has moved away from too close a relationship to the rape of Gentileschi; rather it has focussed on Gentileschi's determination to paint strong women who are the centre of the action. [15]

Reception

The Florentine biographer Filippo Baldinucci described Judith Slaying Holofernes as "inspiring no little amount of terror." [7] At times the painting was popular, mainly due to the grotesque nature of the biblical scene, but also because of the artist's gender. [7] Yet when the painting was sold by Signora Saveria de Simone in 1827, it was sold as a work of Caravaggio. [9] This confusion shows Gentileschi's dedication as a caravagistta. In recent decades, there has been much art historical interest in this painting, with Eva Straussman-Pflanzer explaining that "the painting has... gained... distinction due to its feminist-inspired inclusion in the history of art". [7]

See also

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<i>Esther Before Ahasuerus</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Esther Before Ahasuerus is a painting by the 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It shows the biblical heroine Esther going before Ahasuerus to beg him to spare her people. The painting is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, having been donated to the museum by Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll in 1969. It is one of Gentileschi's lesser known works, but her use of lighting, characterization, and style help in successfully portraying Esther as a biblical heroine as well as the main protagonist of the work.

<i>Judith and her Maidservant</i> (Gentileschi, Florence) c. 1615 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith and her Maidservant is a c. 1615 painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The painting depicts Judith and her maidservant leaving the scene where they have just beheaded general Holofernes, whose head is in the basket carried by the maidservant. It hangs in the Pitti Palace, Florence.

This is an ongoing bibliography of work related to the Italian baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi.

<i>Self-Portrait as a Lute Player</i> Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

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<i>Judith and Her Maidservant</i> (Detroit) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith and Her Maidservant is one of four paintings by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi that depicts the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes. This particular work, executed in about 1623 to 1625, now hangs in the Detroit Institute of Arts. The narrative is taken from the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, in which Judith seduces and then murders the general Holofernes. This precise moment illustrates the maidservant Abra wrapping the severed head in a bag, moments after the murder, while Judith keeps watch. The other three paintings are now shown in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and the Musée de la Castre in Cannes.

<i>Mary Magdalene</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Penitent Magdalene is a 1616–1618 painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. This painting hangs in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The subject is the biblical figure Mary Magdalene, but the painting references another biblical woman, Mary, the sister of Lazarus. This painting was likely painted during Gentileschi's Florentine period.

<i>Saint Catherine of Alexandria</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Saint Catherine of Alexandra is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It is in the collection of the Uffizi, Florence. Gentileschi likely used the same cartoon or preparatory drawing to create both this painting and the Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1615–1617), now in the National Gallery, London.

<i>Judith and her Maidservant</i> (Gentileschi, Naples)

Judith and Her Maidservant is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. Executed sometime between 1645 and 1650, it hangs in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples. The story comes from the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, in which Judith seduces and then assassinates the general Holofernes, who had besieged Judith's town. The exact moment depicted takes place after the murder when her maidservant places the severed head in a bag, while Judith checks around her.

<i>Judith and her Maidservant</i> (Gentileschi, Cannes) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith and Her Maidservant is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. Executed sometime between 1640 and 1645, it hangs in the Musée de la Castre in Cannes.

<i>Lucretia</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi, Milan)

Lucretia is a painting by the Italian baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It depicts Lucretia, the wife of Roman consul and general Tarquinus, at the moment of her suicide. The decision to take her own life was made after she was blackmailed and raped by a fellow soldier of Tarquinus. It is one of a number of paintings of Gentileschi that focus on virtuous women ill-treated by men.

<i>Judith Slaying Holofernes</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi, Florence) Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith Slaying Holofernes c. 1620, now at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, is the renowned painting by Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi depicting the assassination of Holofernes from the apocryphal Book of Judith. When compared to her earlier interpretation from Naples c. 1612, there are subtle but marked improvements to the composition and detailed elements of the work. These differences display the skill of a cultivated Baroque painter, with the adept use of chiaroscuro and realism to express the violent tension between Judith, Abra, and the dying Holofernes.

<i>Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes</i> 17th-century painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes is a painting by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi, created in 1639-1640. It was one of many paintings by Gentileschi that treats the theme of Judith, who beheads the Assyrian general Holofernes, who was planning to destroy Judith's home city of Bethulia.

References

  1. 1 2 Gardner, Helen; Kleiner, Fred; Mamiya, Christin (2013). Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History 14th edition. Wadsworth. p. 683. ISBN   978-1-111-77152-2.
  2. ↑ "Judith and Holofernes". Google Art Project.
  3. ↑ Camara, Esperança. "Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes". Khan Academy.
  4. 1 2 3 Treves, Letizia. (2020). Artemisia. [S.l.]: National Gallery (London). p. 125. ISBN   978-1-85709-656-9. OCLC   1117638110.
  5. 1 2 Garrard, Mary (1989). Artemisia Gentileschi: the image of the female hero in Italian Baroque Art. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 290. ISBN   0691040508.
  6. ↑ Smith, Susan L. (11 November 2016). The Power of Women : A "Topos" in Medieval Art and Literature. ISBN   9781512809404. OCLC   979747791.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Straussman-Pflanzer, Eva (2013). Violence and Virtue: Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith Slaying Holofernes. Chicago, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago. pp. 1–38. ISBN   978-0-300-18679-6.
  8. ↑ Whitlum-Cooper, Francesca (2020). Treves, Letizia (ed.). Artemisia. London: The National Gallery Company Ltd.
  9. 1 2 Bissell, R. Ward (1968). "Artemisia Gentileschi—A New Documented Chronology". The Art Bulletin. 50 (2): 153–168. doi:10.1080/00043079.1968.10789138. ISSN   0004-3079.
  10. 1 2 Crum, Roger J. (2001). "Severing the Neck of Pride: Donatello's "Judith and Holofernes" and the Recollection of Albizzi Shame in Medicean Florence". Artibus et Historiae. 22 (44): 23–29. doi:10.2307/1483711. ISSN   0391-9064. JSTOR   1483711.
  11. 1 2 "Judith Beheading Holofernes". Web Gallery of Art. Retrieved on June 6, 2009.
  12. ↑ Garrard, Mary (2001). Artemisia Gentileschi around 1622: The Shaping and Reshaping of an Artistic Identity. Berkeley: California Studies in the History of Art. pp.  19–21. ISBN   0520224264.
  13. ↑ Mary Garrard, Artemisia Gentileschi (1989), qtd. in Patricia Phillippy (2006). Painting women: cosmetics, canvases, and early modern culture. JHU Press. p. 75. ISBN   978-0-8018-8225-8.
  14. ↑ Christiansen, Keith (2001). Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi. New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art: New Haven : Yale University Press. ISBN   1588390063.
  15. ↑ Cohen, Elizabeth S. (2000). "The Trials of Artemisia Gentileschi: A Rape as History". Sixteenth Century Journal. 31 (1): 47–75. doi:10.2307/2671289. JSTOR   2671289.
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