Judith and the Head of Holofernes

Last updated

Judith and the Head of Holofernes
Judith 1 (cropped).jpg
Artist Gustav Klimt
Year1901
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions84 cm× 42 cm(33 in× 17 in)
Location Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

Judith and the Head of Holofernes (also known as Judith I, German: Judith und Holofernes) [1] is an oil painting by Gustav Klimt, painted in 1901. It depicts the biblical figure Judith holding the head of Holofernes after beheading him. The beheading and its aftermath have been commonly portrayed in art since the Renaissance, and Klimt himself would paint a second work depicting the subject in 1909.

Contents

Context and influences

When Klimt addressed the biblical theme of Judith, the historical course of art had already codified its main interpretation and preferred representation. Many paintings exist describing the episode in a heroic manner, especially expressing Judith's courage and virtuous nature. Judith appears as God's instrument of salvation, but the violence of her action cannot be denied and is dramatically shown in Caravaggio's rendering, [2] as well as those of Gentileschi and Bigot. [3] Other representations have depicted the subsequent moment, when a dazed Judith holds Holofernes' severed head, as Moreau and Allori anticipate in their suggestive mythological paintings. [4]

Klimt deliberately ignores any narrative reference whatsoever and concentrates his pictorial rendering solely on to Judith, so much so that he cuts off Holofernes' head at the right margin. And there is no trace of a bloodied sword as if the heroine would have used a different weapon: an omission that legitimates association with Salome. [5] The moment preceding the killing – the seduction of Nebuchadnezzar's general – seems to coalesce with the conclusive part of the story. [6]

The Sin, 1893, by Franz Stuck Shtiuk.Grekh.jpg
The Sin , 1893, by Franz Stuck

Judith I shares elements of its composition and symbolism with The Sin by Franz Stuck: [7] the temptation illustrated by the German painter becomes the model for Klimt's femme fatale by suggesting the posture of the disrobed and evanescent body as a focal piece of the canvas, as well as the facial set. Judith's force originates from the close-up and the solidity of posture, rendered by the orthogonal projection of lines: to the body's verticality (and that of Holofernes') corresponds the horizontal parallels in the lower margin: those of the arm, the shoulders joined by the collier, and finally the hair base. [8] Judith was the biblical heroine who seduced and then decapitated General Holofernes in order to save her home city of Bethulia from destruction by the Assyrian army.

Analysis

Judith II, 1909, by Klimt Gustav Klimt, Judith II.jpg
Judith II , 1909, by Klimt

Judith's face exudes a mixed charge of voluptuousness and perversion. Its traits are transfigured so as to obtain the greatest degree of intensity and seduction, which Klimt achieves by placing the woman on an unattainable plane. Notwithstanding the alteration of features, one can recognise Klimt's friend (and, possibly, lover), Viennese socialite, Adele Bloch-Bauer, the subject of another two portraits respectively done in 1907 and 1912, and also painted in the Pallas Athena . [9] The slightly lifted head has a sense of pride, whereas her visage is languid and sensual, with parted lips in between defiance and seduction. Franz A. J. Szabo describes it best as a "[symbol of] triumph of the erotic feminine principle over the aggressive masculine one". Her half-closed gaze, which also ties into an expression of pleasure, directly confronts the viewer of all this. In 1903, author and critic Felix Salten describes Judith's expression as one "with a sultry fire in her dark glances, cruelty in the lines of her mouth, and nostrils trembling with passion. Mysterious forces seem to be slumbering within this enticing female". Although Judith had typically been interpreted as the pious widow simply fulfilling a higher duty, in Judith I she is a paradigm of the femme fatale Klimt repeatedly portrayed in his work. The contrast between the black hair and the golden luminosity of the background enhance elegance and exaltation. The fashionable hairdo is emphasized by the stylised motifs of the trees fanning on the sides. [10] Her disheveled dark green, semi-sheer garment, giving the viewer a view of her nearly bare torso, alludes to the fact that Judith beguiled the general Holofernes before decapitating him.

In the 1901 version, Judith maintains a magnetic fascination and sensuality, subsequently abandoned by Klimt in his Judith II , where she acquires sharper traits and a fierce expression. In its formal qualities, the first version illustrates a heroine with the archetypal features of the bewitching and charming ladies described by symbolist artists and writers such as Wilde, Vasnetsov, Moreau, and others. [11] She revels in her power and sexuality—so much so that critics mislabeled Klimt's Judith as Salome, the title character from Oscar Wilde's 1891 tragedy. To stress and re-emphasize that the woman was actually Judith and not Salome he had his brother, Georg, make the metal frame for him with "Judith and Holofernes" engraved on it.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustav Klimt</span> Austrian symbolist painter (1862–1918)

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. Amongst his figurative works, which include allegories and portraits, he painted landscapes. Among the artists of the Vienna Secession, Klimt was the most influenced by Japanese art and its methods.

Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677 (2004), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, or FSIA, applies retroactively to acts prior to its enactment in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Österreichische Galerie Belvedere</span> Museum housed in the Belvedere Palace, in Vienna, Austria

The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is a museum housed in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Altmann</span> Austrian-American Jewish refugee (1916–2011)

Maria Altmann was an Austrian-American Jewish refugee from Austria, who fled her home country after it was annexed to the Third Reich. She is noted for her ultimately successful legal campaign to reclaim from the Government of Austria five family-owned paintings by the artist Gustav Klimt that were stolen by the Nazis during World War II.

<i>The Kiss</i> (Klimt) Painting by Gustav Klimt

The Kiss is an oil-on-canvas painting with added gold leaf, silver and platinum by the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. It was painted at some point in 1907 and 1908, during the height of what scholars call his "Golden Period". It was exhibited in 1908 under the title Liebespaar as stated in the catalogue of the exhibition. The painting depicts a couple embracing each other, their bodies entwined in elaborate beautiful robes decorated in a style influenced by the contemporary Art Nouveau style and the organic forms of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement.

Hubertus Czernin was an Austrian investigative journalist.

<i>Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I</i> Painting by Gustav Klimt

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a painting by Gustav Klimt, completed between 1903 and 1907. The portrait was commissioned by the sitter's husband, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a Jewish banker and sugar producer. The painting was stolen by the Nazis in 1941 and displayed at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. The portrait is the final and most fully representative work of Klimt's golden phase. It was the first of two depictions of Adele by Klimt—the second was completed in 1912; these were two of several works by the artist that the family owned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adele Bloch-Bauer</span> Austro-Hungarian socialite

Adele Bloch-Bauer was a Viennese socialite, salon hostess, and patron of the arts from Austria-Hungary. A Jewish woman, she is most well known for being the subject of two of artist Gustav Klimt's paintings: Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, and the fate of the paintings during and after the Nazi Holocaust. She has been called "the Austrian Mona Lisa."

<i>Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II</i> Painting by Gustav Klimt

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt. The work is a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), a Vienna socialite who was a patron and close friend of Klimt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith beheading Holofernes</span> Biblical episode and artistic theme

The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautiful widow, is able to enter the tent of Holofernes because of his desire for her. Holofernes was an Assyrian general who was about to destroy Judith's home, the city of Bethulia. Overcome with drink, he passes out and is decapitated by Judith; his head is taken away in a basket.

<i>Judith Slaying Holofernes</i> (Artemisia Gentileschi, Naples) 1612–13 painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

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. 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.

<i>Salome</i> (Titian, Rome) Painting by Titian in Rome

Salome, or possibly Judith with the Head of Holofernes, is an oil painting which is an early work by the Venetian painter of the late Renaissance, Titian. It is usually thought to represent Salome with the head of John the Baptist. It is usually dated to around 1515 and is now in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome. Like other paintings of this subject, it has sometimes been considered to represent Judith with the head of Holofernes, the other biblical incident found in art showing a female and a severed male head. Historically, the main figure has also been called Herodias, the mother of Salome.

Hope I is an oil painting created by Gustav Klimt in 1903. It is 189 cm x 67 cm and currently located in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The main subject of this work is a pregnant, nude female. She is holding her hands together above her stomach and close to her chest. She gazes directly at the viewer and has a great mass of hair with a crown of forget-me-not flowers placed on her head. The scene is beautiful upon first glance but once the viewer's eyes move to the background, deathlike figures become noticeably present.

Judith and Holofernes may refer to:

<i>Woman in Gold</i> (film) 2015 British drama film directed by Simon Curtis

Woman in Gold is a 2015 biographical drama film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Alexi Kaye Campbell. The film stars Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany, Max Irons, Charles Dance, Elizabeth McGovern, and Jonathan Pryce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne-Marie O'Connor</span>

Anne-Marie O'Connor is an American journalist and writer who authored The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the bestselling story of the battle by Vienna emigre Maria Altmann to reclaim five Gustav Klimt paintings from her native Austria in an eight-year legal battle by Los Angeles attorney E. Randol Schoenberg; a saga that also inspired a Harvey Weinstein movie, Woman in Gold, in which Helen Mirren played Maria Altmann. One of the paintings, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I sold for a record $135 million in 2006, to Ronald Lauder's Neue Galerie New York, where the painting is on view.

Stealing Klimt is a 2007 documentary film about Maria Altmann's attempt to recover five Gustav Klimt paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis in 1938, from Austria.

<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.

<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.

References

  1. As Klimt painted another one, Judith II. (See image at right)
  2. Cf. Caravaggio's painting in Wiki Commons.
  3. See Gallery of Judith Beheading Holofernes renditions.
  4. E. Di Stefano, Gustav Klimt, Art Dossier No. 29 (1988), passim. See images by Allori and Moreau in Wiki Commons.
  5. The associations with Salome are many and varied, covering an extensive period in pictorial representation. Even Klimt's Judith II is at times quoted as Salome. See Commons: "Salome".
  6. Cf. Federico Zeri, Giuditta I (1998), p. 4.
  7. Franz Stuck too, painted a Judith, but before the killing: see Commons image.
  8. Cf. F. Zeri, Giuditta I, cit., p. 8.
  9. Cf. Frank Whitford, Klimt (1990), s.v. "Adele Bloch-Bauer".
  10. Cf. F. Zeri, Giuditta I, cit., pp. 4–9.
  11. Cf. F. Zeri, Giuditta I, cit., p. 8.

Bibliography

Further reading