ANALYSIS

DANIEL COGGIOLA REVILLA

JUDITH SLAYING HOLOFERNES
ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI (1614-20) BAROQUE

This painting really leaves a lasting impression
This painting is exhibited in La Galleria Degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy. It is a
masterpiece by the Italian baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. An oil on canvas,
this incredible painting depicts a very violent bible scene, the moment in which
Judith beheads Holofernes, an Assyrian warrior, in order to save Israel.
In this painting, light is extremely theatrical. The contrast between de darkness in
the piece shows how skilled Artemisia was in the use of chiaroscuro. Artemisia
does not give the scene a background, for it to be even more dramatic. She
decided to paint Holofernes blankets red, to make the scene feel even more
violent, idea which is reaffirmed with the blood that comes out from his neck. The
technique used is exquisite. Is incredible how she managed to paint the sheets, the
blankets and the fabrics of the dresses with such realism. We can clearly see this
painting was made during the baroque period, because of how the scene seems to
be frozen in the middle of an action, and because of the dark, heavy, colors used in
it. This painting was clearly influenced by Caravaggios work, because there are
numerous similarities if compared with his version of the same story. Nevertheless,
it is important to see how different Gentileschi depicts the role of the women in the
scene. While Caravaggios Judith remains undeterred while beheading his enemy,
Gentileschis Judith is brutal, and seems to be sawing his head away.
Artemisia Genteleschi was born in Rome, daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, a
follower of Caravaggio. Artemisia was raped by a man who worked for his father.
This event clearly was an influence for her later work, because she represented
herself as Judith in this painting, Agostino Tassi, her rapist, as Holofernes.

There are no previous sketches of this painting; nevertheless there is a previous
version, nearly identical, located in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Napoli,
Italy. Nevertheless, that version is smaller than the one that is analyzed here.

This painting somehow fascinates me, it is an extremely violent scene, and
nevertheless, it is represented with such realism and strength that is impossible not
to be captivated and moved by what it is represented there: anger, revenge,
vengeance, and hate, in such a graceful way. I came across this painting while
studying history of Italian art in Florence last year, and the size (1,99 x 1,62 mts)
makes it truly overwhelming (after all, it is a baroque piece). What makes it a
complete experience is that at the left side of it in the Uffizi Gallery we can find
paintings by Caravaggio, which lets you compare the styles of this two incredible
baroque painters.