Judith and Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi)

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Judith and Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi)
Judith and Holofernes
Artemisia Gentileschi , around 1620
Oil on canvas
199 × 162.5 cm
Uffizi Gallery , Florence

Judith and Holofernes is a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi . It was created in Florence in the first half of the 17th century and is considered one of her most famous paintings.

It is not only the selected moment of the Old Testament event that is unusual, but also that it could possibly be an attempt at an autobiographical reappraisal. The picture is now in the Uffizi in Florence in the so-called Vasari Corridor , the staircase of which is between halls XXV and XXXIV.

Motif and other representations

The motif of the depiction of Judith and the beheading of Holofernes comes from the Old Testament , more precisely from the Book of Judith , chapter 13, verses 6 to 8 (13 EU ). The prehistory in chapter 12, verse 16 (12 EU ) is important for understanding , here it says:

Judit then came in and sat down. But Holofernes was ecstatic with delight at her. His passion flared up and he was eager to be with her. For since he had seen her, he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her.

Judith escaped his intention to rape her only because Holofernes drank too much wine and she therefore had the opportunity to behead him. In fact, she freed the people of Israel from the Assyrians .

Judith and Holofernes, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, the earlier version from around 1612

The subject of Judith and Holofernes is a fairly common one in art history. Three representations of Artemisia Gentileschi are known: One, made around 1612, today in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples , shows the motif in almost the same composition, but the picture has been made smaller and has also been cropped on the left - and with different clothing colors both women. Another of her pictures - also made around 1612 or 1613 - shows Judith and her servant with the head of Holofernes, it is now in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

presentation

The painting shows the beheading of Holofernes in the immediate moment of the event. This is unusual because most of the artists who dealt with this subject portrayed Judith and the servant with their heads in their lair a moment after the beheading or the two people of Judith and the servant.

Previously, only Donatello with his sculpture of the Judith and Holofernes group, made around 1455, and Caravaggio had also chosen the actual act of beheading. In his group of figures, Donatello also chose the “gripping” moment, but did not depict Judith with the blade in her throat, but, according to the Old Testament, between the two blows necessary for the killing. Caravaggio's picture of the beheading, around 1600, already shows the killing, Artemisia Gentileschi may have known it. Gentileschi depicts the exact moment of the killing in “relentless reality”. The strong contrast with the spotlight from the left is a typical way of painting Gentileschi, she adopted it from her father, Orazio Gentileschi , from the Caravaggio school.

Deviating from the Old Testament model, the servant can also be seen. According to the original, she was not in the tent during the killing of Holoferne, but she was also shown by some artists, especially to enrich the composition as shown here. The color of Judith's robe is also no coincidence, yellow , here golden yellow, is also considered the color of hatred.

interpretation

Art history sees this brutal depiction of what happened as an artistic reappraisal of a moment in the life of Artemisia Gentileschi. As a young woman , she was raped by an assistant to her father, Agostino Tassi . In the following trial, Tassi was sentenced to several months in prison, but Artemisia's reputation was damaged, she had to leave Rome and went to Florence.

The emotions depicted on Judith's face can point to these events: they fluctuate between disgust and determination to act. The cutting movement of Judith's right hand also reinforces the moment and can be a reflection of her own previous fate.

Trivia

Judith Holofernes is the stage name of the front woman of the German pop-rock band Wir sind Helden .

The painting is mentioned in the mystery thriller The Awakening (2011) , where it hangs in the entrance hall of a boarding school.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Gallery of Strong Women. Catalog Düsseldorf 1965. No. 106, p. 244.
  2. ↑ Max Semrau: The art of the Renaissance in Italy and in the north. P. 125.
  3. ↑ Christiane Stukenbrock, Barbara Töpper: 1000 masterpieces of painting. P. 367.
  4. ^ Wolfgang Braunfels: Small Italian art history. P. 403.
  5. ↑ Patrick de Rynck: The Art of Reading Pictures - The Old Masters decipher and understand. P. 249.
  6. ↑ Patrick de Rynck: The Art of Reading Pictures - The Old Masters decipher and understand. P. 249.
  7. ↑ Patrick de Rynck: The Art of Reading Pictures - The Old Masters decipher and understand. P. 248.

literature

  • Wolfgang Braunfels : Small Italian Art History. DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 1984, ISBN 3-7701-1509-0 .
  • Patrick de Rynck: The Art of Reading Pictures - The Old Masters deciphering and understanding. Parthas Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86601-695-6 .
  • Max Semrau: The Art of the Renaissance in Italy and in the North . 3. Edition. Vol. III from Wilhelm Lübke: Outline of Art History. 14th edition. Paul Neff Verlag, Esslingen 1912.
  • Christiane Stukenbrock, Barbara Töpper: 1000 masterpieces of painting. Tandem Verlag, special edition hfullmann, 2005. ISBN 978-3-8331-6172-8 -
  • Stefano Zuffi: The Renaissance - Art, Architecture, History, Masterpieces. DuMont Buchverlag, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-8321-9113-9 .

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