Judith Beheading Holofernes (painted circa 1589) on display at Palazzo Barberini
Painting: Judith Beheading Holofernes — Caravaggio
Location: Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica at Palazzo Barberini, Rome
Judith Beheading Holofernes tells the biblical story of Judith, who saved her people by seducing and beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes.
A popular figure in the middle ages, Judith’s celibacy following the death of her husband likened her to Virgin Mary.
Caravaggio was aware of Judith’s traditional identity as a symbol of triumph over tyranny; but he presented the composition of his painting primarily as a melodrama, choosing the climactic moment of the actual beheading. The figures are set out, theatrically lit from the side, isolated against the dark background. Judith’s maid Abra stands beside her mistress with a cloth bag to gather the head as Judith extends her arm to hold a blade against Holofernes’s neck. It is a gripping image capturing the protagonists’ states of mind: Abra’s grim satisfaction, Holofernes’s shock, and Judith’s sense of determination. Caravaggio intensifies the body language not only through poses, gestures, and facial expressions but also in the clenched hands.
The influence of Da Vinci is apparent in Caravaggio’s work. Here, the grotesquely intense face of the old maid holding the bag for Holofernes’s head is undeniably evocative of Da Vinci’s caricatures. Scholars believe that Fillide Melandroni, the courtesan who served as a model for many Caravaggio paintings, was also the model for this one.
The mystery of the lost Caravaggio
The interesting thing about this painting however, is the lost version of it.
Provenance suggests, that this was not the only “Judith Beheading Holofernes” that Caravaggio painted. He painted the first version in 1589 which today resides at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. He also painted a second version somewhere around 1607, where he captured the same story but in a different composition and titled it simply as “Judith and Holofernes”
However, this second version that Caravaggio painted simply disappeared from human existense since the early 1600s.
It was in 2014, when in a rare and sudden discovery which shook the art world, a new painting was discovered out of nowhere, in an obscure attic of a house in Toulouse, France. The painting captured the same story of Judith assassinating Holofernes and as art experts swopped in for forensic analysis, news started to trickle in that this may be the long lost version of Caravaggio.
In the last 8 years, there has been detailed analysis of this painting by renowned art experts across the world, with no consensus. Some scholars believe that it is indeed Caravaggio’s work, while others argue that it is the work of his friend Louis Finson.
So let’s rewind the stage back in time.
Judith and Holofernes (the Toulouse version)
A story of two Caravaggio’s — a timeline of events
According to historical archives, Caravaggio left Naples where he had been living since early 1606 for Malta in 1607. Provenance suggests, that before leaving the city, he left two paintings — the Madonna of the Rosary and Judith and Holofernes (the second version) in the studio of his friend Louis Finson. (in Naples)
From 1607 to his death in 1617, these two paintings stayed with Finson who in his will bequeathed all of his belongings to his partner Abraham Vinck, including the two paintings. Such is the magic of Caravaggio, that Vinck and Finson who were notable painters themselves, are only known in history for their ownership of these two painting by Caravaggio.
What also needs to be noted here is that Finson had a habit of making copies of Caravaggio’s work. It is recorded that he made a copy of Caravaggio’s Madonna of the Rosary which was eventually sold to noted art dealer Charles De Koenig.
He also made one copy of the second version of Caravaggio’s Judith and Holofernes. This was sold to the Intesa Sanpaolo bank in Naples where it resides today.
What is not known is if Finson made a second copy of Carvaggios’s second Judith.
Abraham Vinck died in 1619 in Amsterdam, and with his death dies the trail of Caravaggio’s second version of Judith and Holofernes. Vinck’s heirs sold the original Madonna of the Rosary and it was subsequently traced to Antwerp in 1619 and Vienna as of 1786 when Austrian Emperor Joseph II , brought it for his personal collection.
Today the Madonna of the Rosary resides in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
However, there is no trace of what happened to the original Judith and Holofernes subsequent to the death of Finson and Vinck.
The only record that stayed was of the Finson copy kept in the Intesa Sanpaolo bank in Naples.
Re-discovery in Toulouse — the story of Marc Labarbe
Caravaggio’s second Judith completely disappeared from the face of the earth between 1619–2014 and everyone kind of forgot about it, until a sudden discovery in Toulouse opened a 400 year old mystery throwing amateurs and art critics into a state of giddy excitement and disbelieving surprise.
Caravaggio second Judith, lost in Naples, wiped from public memory for 400 years, suddenly surfaced in the attic of a nondescript house in Toulouse — out of nowhere.
In April 2014, Toulouse auctioneer Marc Labarbe got a call from a local family who had found an old painting in their closed attic while trying to fix a leaky ceiling. Labarbe had some local fame (people knew him as a successful auctioneer). He had also been working with many families in the Toulouse region who had very old hand-me-down generation houses to hold vide-greniers (empty attics) yard sales. The family who found this painting had already been in touch with him for a vide-grenier. Their intention was to remove the attic to solve for a leaky ceiling and remodel the house. It was during this attic clean up and leaky ceiling fix drive, that they came across an old painting stuffed together with old clothes, toys and other old furniture.
When Marc first saw this painting on April 23, 2014 he guessed it was from the Italian Renaissance era, but he was not an expert on old paintings. So he contacted Eric Turquin, a Paris based auctioneer, who specialised in Old Masters. The painting was shipped to Paris, where after three months of study and research, Turquin and his team came to the conclusion that this was a Caravaggio.
And not just any Caravaggio.
It was THE 400 year old lost Caravaggio.
The attic in Toulouse where the second Caravaggio was found. Pic credit — LA Times
So how did a lost Caravaggio end up in this attic?
While there is no clear answer and the family who discovered it have always requested anonymity, they did trace the paintings history to a French soldier in Napoleon’s army. Other historians have also pointed out that there was a connection between Toulouse and Italy among it’s nobility during the 1700s and that three other Caravaggio’s were found within the Toulouse region quite like the Judith.
Yet the story seems chaotic and hazy.
So let’s turn to what happened next.
Restoration and final auction
Labarbe and Turquin made global headlines by claiming their finding to be “THE” lost Caravaggio. Being art auctioneers their claim had more authenticity. They even tentatively valued this “lost Caravaggio” for €120 million which only added to the news frenzy and art debate.
Restoration experts got to work and after a first lightening of the varnish, the Toulouse version was displayed in 2016 at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan for a comparative study titled “A Question of Attribution” . In this exhibition the Toulouse version and Finson’s copy of Judith and Holofernes from the Intesa Sanpaolo bank were displayed side by side for the public and art experts to analyse openly.
On critical comparison of painting style, brushstrokes and technical details with other renowned works of Caravaggio , many art critics and researchers proclaimed this was indeed an original by Caravaggio (which would make it the last Caravaggio found after 400 years!).
However other experts contested the claim and pointed out differences in stroke, brushwork, colour palette and mismatch in style with any of Caravaggio’s era’s.
Eight years on — the debate continues.
In February 2019, after five years of rigorous investigation, the French government lifted its embargo “on the painting leaving French soil until investigations are complete”.
Labarbe and Turquin had first offered the painting to The Louvre for €100 million. The Louvre declined after failing to determine its authenticity as a Caravaggio. It was then that the duo decided to auction the painting themselves at an auctioning event designed in Toulouse.
The excitement and intrigue did not stop here. Just before the day of the auction, a private mystery buyer reached out to Labarbe and Turquin and bought it for an undisclosed sum.
Unofficial accounts say it was bought by art collector and hedge fund manager J.Tomilson Hill. He is a board member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and holds this painting in his personal collection as of today.
The story of Judith and Holofernes is as incredible as a modern day espionage story and while a lot of that story is still shrouded in mystery, it is what makes art so interesting.
Sources: LA Times, The Art Newspaper, Reuters, The Guardian, The Trent, CNN, WideWalls, Wikipedia
