How to Read Paintings: Judith Beheading Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi
How a female artist broke with convention in this vivid and gruesome painting
Take some time to look at this painting. It is dramatic and gruesome. It is also complicated.
It was painted by the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. Not only was she a supremely talented painter, she was also unusual for being a woman in a predominantly male profession. In 17th century European art, Gentileschi was an exception. Her willingness to challenge convention meant she became the first woman to gain membership to the Florence Academy of the Arts of Drawing in 1616. This self-confidence is also evident in her art, not least in this painting, Judith Beheading Holofernes, made sometime between 1614 and 1620 when Gentileschi was in her twenties.
The event depicted is the climatic moment in the story of Judith and Holofernes, as told in the Old Testament and later elaborated in apocryphal texts.
Judith was a beautiful and wealthy widow from the Jewish city of Bethulia. The city was at war with the Assyrian army and desperately under siege, was on the point of surrender. The Assyrians were led by a general called Holofernes. In order to save her city, Judith pretended to desert her people and crossed over…
