Judith Slaying Holofernes

Continuing into the Baroque era, portrayals of Judith were exaggerated and dramatized. Gentileschi’s oil painting created in 1614, Judith Slaying Holofernes, displays the gruesome story in a graphic and dark manner (Uffizi). Heavily influenced by Caravaggio, Gentileschi paints the scene of Judith during the slaying of Holofernes. Unlike the work of past artists and her current male counterparts, Gentileschi shows no mercy or fragility in Judith. While Caravaggio’s Judith recoils from her horrific task, Gentileschi’s Judith does not flinch; she braces herself on the bed and pulls the large sword through Holofernes neck (Khanacademy.org). In order to make the power of the woman believable, the artist shows off the physical strength of Judith and paints the figure with muscular arms and a thicker body structure.

Gentileschi does not stray from the gore of the subject jets of blood arc from Holofernes neck and rain down on Judith’s arms and the bed Holofernes lays upon. Contrasting from the death evident Caravaggio’s painting, in this piece Holofernes is still very much alive. Although his eyes are lifeless, his muscular body projects upward into the space thrusting his arms in a struggle to survive. Additionally, in this work, Judith’s maid is not standing idly by her side. Instead, she works with Judith and forcefully holds Holofernes’s neck down. Stylistically, this piece is dynamic is colorful. The bold contrast of light and dark draw attention to the movements of each character and allows the figures facial expressions to be clearly seen. The details of each figures expressions evoke an emotional response in the audience. Gentileschi wants the audience to seen the horror in Holofernes’s face, the determination in Judith’s, and the watchfulness in the