Judith Beheading Holofernes

Kimberly Boatman 

Judith Beheading Holofernes was made by a Baroque artist by the name of Artemisia Gentileschi.  Artemisia’s version of the painting was made in 1620, in Florence, the original painting was made by Caravaggio a friend of the family. Caravaggio’s version was based on an old biblical story that he had created in 159, in Rome. In comparison with these two artists it is obvious that Artemisia’s version is perfected and more in depth than Caravaggio’s. In her version you can depict the actual struggle the assistant and her had to go through in order to hold Holofernes down. She shows the depth of the blood not only gushing out but leaking to where the sheets are absorbing the blood. Gentileschi’s showed how intense the task was by rolling up her sleeves and not being afraid to accomplish stabbing the sword through his neck. In his version he depicts a fragile young women with her servant assisting her and her face looks like she can’t stomach what she has done. It doesn’t look like she had to put up much fight with Holofernes it appeared to be an easy task for her.

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Artemisia had developed her artistic ways from her father, Orazio Gentileschi. Gentileschi’s father recognized that his daughters painting skills had outgrown what he could have ever taught her. Once he noticed she had outgrown the basic techniques he reached out to a close friend by the name of Agostino Tassi. According to the Brooklyn Museum, Tassi had raped Artemisia in 1612 and was put through a long and hard trial. He refused to marry her which pushed her dad to have him exiled from Rome although, it never happened. She talked about how she struggled with him and her effort to try and stab him with a knife. She claimed that her chaperone had arranged for the two to be alone and that she had abandoned her basically let it happen. After the trial was over her father Orazio arranged for her to be married and she was moved to Florence from Rome.  She married an artist by the name of Pierantonio Stiattesi who was a painter in Florence and she also earned the support of the patronage Cosimo II who was known as the Medici duke. She then became one of the first women to attend the Academy of Art in the city of Florence and continued her dream of being an artist.

Judith Beheading Holofernes paintings stormed from the famous story in period when art, music and theater was popular in the Baroque period. Judith during this period was considered a symbol of church and was often compared to Mary. Artemisia’s version was a little more personal although she tried following the lines of the biblical paintings. Artemisia’s stand point was often looked at on how she would get revenge from the rape concluding she tried attacking him with a knife. The other artists took the stand point of the courage, power and beauty behind the old tale and tried to depict it as the eye would see it. Artemisia does tie herself into the painting which proves that she tried making the painting about her. In the painting Judith is wearing a bracelet with the goddess named Artemis depicted on the ovals. She wasn’t only just influenced by the work she watched her father create or the famous painter Caravaggio that she had admired so dearly. This painting was associated with something bad that had happened to her and it was hard trying to balance the two out.

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Artemisia throughout her lifetime had paintings that represented women that had suffered and came out of the situation stronger. She was one of the only well-known female artist in her time so I feel like she spent a lot of time trying to prove that women are just as good as a man.  In this painting she depicted her struggles and the way she created his piece of art proved that she had overcame what she had once been. When she first published this painting she was criticized and her reputation was ruined because people assisted with the trial with Tassi. The painting aims at ones emotions, it’s almost as you can feel the pain that Artemisia had went through that influenced her to paint this image. Judith seems calm in this photo while she’s beheading Holofernes almost as if she showing a sense of justice and courage it took to get there. Her paintings represent violence that women had experienced for centuries, she converts not only her experiences to a painting but other women’s as well. The message that Artemisia’s is trying to convey to her audience it’s okay to go through trials and tribulations in life, it’s just you who determines the outcome of the situation.

Gentileschi’s version of Judith Beheading Holofernes has a different emotional appeal that makes it stand out compared to Caravaggio’s biblical version. The depth of the painting is beautifully created from the colors used, the shading and the emotional connection from her personal experiences to relating it to others. This painting represents the power that women have and it can easily over power man when outraged. The painting is now in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy and it still strikes viewers with emotion and awe at the skill that it took to create this image.