Judith and Holofernes (subject)

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Andrea Mantegna: Judith and Holofernes, 1431

Judith and Holofernes are characters from the book of Judith in the Old Testament . Its history has been presented in numerous variations in works of Western art, music and literature.

Judith as the embodiment of courage, determination, self-sacrificing patriotism, combined with female beauty - "she had a beautiful figure and a blooming appearance" ( Jdt 8,7  EU ) - has always inspired the imagination of the artists. Above all, the bloody spectacle of the beheading of Holofernes became a frequently varied subject from the late Middle Ages to the early 20th century.

Historical background

The book of Judith is an Old Testament short story in which events from the history of the Israelites , which stretch over a period of almost 400 years, are condensed into a teaching example. Centuries of disputes between the Israelites and the ancient empires of the Babylonians , Assyrians and Persians are summarized in a legend that is full of symbols. It should be made clear how the people of the Israelites must act in the highest danger from the threat of powerful external enemies and dwindling trust in God in order to experience God's help and to regain trust.

The book is not part of the Jewish canon , but the text is contained in the Septuagint and is therefore recognized by Catholic and Orthodox Christians as part of the Bible. Martin Luther included the book in the apocryphal writings of his translation of the Bible .

The book, written in Greek , was probably written in the late Hellenistic period .

Judith in the fine arts

Sandro Botticelli : Finding the dead Holofernes (around 1470), Uffizi, Florence
Lucas Cranach the Elder : Judith with the head of Holofernes , around 1530, Kunsthistorisches Museum , Vienna
Paolo Veronese : Judith with the head of Holofernes , around 1580, Kunsthistorisches Museum , Vienna

Judith is depicted as a young and beautiful, richly dressed woman, with a sword in her hand, with the bloody head of Holofernes, more rarely with her breast bare or naked.

In medieval typology , Judith is the prefiguration of Mary as the conqueror of evil.

In pictorial representations of the Nine Good Heroines , she is one of the three representatives of Judaism alongside Jaël and Esther . Placed in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, it symbolizes, like Michelangelo's David , the victory of the republic over the rule of a tyrant.

Pictures and sculptures (selection)

  • Schedel's World Chronicle, 1493

  • Conrat Meit: Judith with the head of Holofernes , around 1525 (alabaster)

  • August Riedel: Judith , 1840

  • Gustav Klimt: Judith I , 1901

  • Gustav Klimt: Judith II , 1909

Judith in literature (selection)

The books Ruth, Esther and Judith , transl. Martin Luther, Dän. Edition 1723

Operas and oratorios (selection)

Title page to Vivaldis Juditha triumphans , Venice 1716

Text dubbing

pop music

Movie

literature

  • Otto Baltzer: Judith in German literature. History of material and motifs in German literature . 7. Berlin 1930.
  • Barbara Schmitz: Trickster, scribe or femme fatale? The Judit figure between biblical narrative and art-historical reception. In: Biblical Forum 2004 ( excerpt as PDF )
  • Bettina Uppenkamp: Judith and Holofernes in Italian Baroque painting. Berlin 2004. ISBN 3-496-01304-4
  • Adelheid Straten: The Judith theme in Germany in the 16th century. Studies in Iconography - Materials and Contributions . Diss. LMU Munich 1982. Minerva Fachserie Kunst 1983, ISBN 978-3-597-10486-3
  • The gallery of strong women. The heroine in 17th century French and Italian art . Arranged by Bettin Baumgärtel and Silvia Neyserts. Exhibition in Darmstadt and Düsseldorf, 1995/1996.
  • Matthias Morgenstern : Theater and Zionist Myth. A study of contemporary Hebrew drama with a special focus on the work of Joshua Sobol . Tübingen 2002, pp. 102–115 (on the Judith piece "Judith among the Lepers" by Mosche Schamir )

Web links

Commons : Book of Judith  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Paintings by Judith and Holofernes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara Schmitz:  Judit. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Bibellexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff., Accessed on January 27, 2013.
  2. ↑ Judith with the head of Holofernes. In: Sandrart.net. Retrieved December 20, 2014 .