Judith Beheading Holofernes

Look at the whole painting

Begin with the whole painting. A broad area of darkness hangs above the figures. Below it, the woman at the right wears gold, while the woman at the left leans forward in red and blue. Their arms converge over the man lying across the bed. The sword rises beside his head, and red arcs cut across the space above it.

This page concerns Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting in the Uffizi, which the museum dates to about 1620 and records as oil on canvas. ^[1] The Naples painting of the subject belongs to the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples. ^[2] The National Gallery’s 2020 loan report lists them as separate works. ^[2] Keeping those versions apart matters when comparing a photograph, a date or a museum label.

Follow the hands

Look first at the hand gripping the sword, then at the hand holding the man’s hair. Follow each arm back to the woman in gold. Now follow the other woman’s downward-reaching arm towards the sword and his raised arm. The action depends on the relation between these bodies; a close crop of the blood alone leaves much of that arrangement outside the frame.

Charlotte Mullins distinguishes Gentileschi’s first and second versions. Her account of the maid restraining Holofernes concerns the first version. For the Florence painting, she describes Judith’s twisting body and lengthened sword as giving her greater force. ^[3] Return to the whole image after reading that interpretation. Consider how the direction of the sword differs from the angle of Judith’s torso, and how closely the other woman presses into the action.

At the right, a bracelet catches the light on the forearm. The gold clothing gathers into folds around Judith’s shoulder and waist. The white linen beneath the man gives the red marks a pale ground. These details remain part of the scene’s physical arrangement, even when the violence draws the first glance.

What story is being painted?

The Uffizi’s account identifies Judith as the woman from Bethulia who kills the enemy general Holofernes after he has become drunk. The museum places the painting at the moment of the killing. ^[1] The story supplies names and circumstances. Looking at the image supplies a different kind of information: how Gentileschi arranges the people at that moment.

Katy Hessel argues that Gentileschi’s paintings deserve attention beyond their connection to her life. ^[5] The force of this scene also lies in the women’s coordinated actions: one holds Holofernes down while the other works the sword.

Florence and Naples are different works

The National Gallery’s loan report gives X10474 for Florence and X10473 for Naples as entry references. It lists the Naples accession number as inv. Q378. Its illustrations show Judith wearing gold in the Florence work and blue in the Naples work. ^[2] Those photographs give a useful first comparison, but colour alone should not replace the collection record.

Bredekamp also compares the two versions, describing the jets of blood in the Naples painting as less extravagant than those in Florence. ^[4]

The records do not agree on every Florence detail. The current Uffizi page gives about 1620, whereas the 2020 loan report gives about 1613-14. The Uffizi lists 146.5 by 108 cm; the loan entry gives 199 by 162.5 cm. The Uffizi gives its inventory number as 1890 n. 1567, while the report lists the Florence accession number as 1897 n.1567. ^{[1] [2]}

A painting that needed to be paid for

Horst Bredekamp recounts Galileo’s help in securing payment for the Judith painting after the death of Cosimo II de’ Medici. His account quotes Gentileschi recalling that intervention and discusses her October 1635 request for help with payment for two further paintings. ^[4]

The Uffizi likewise describes a delay in obtaining the agreed payment. ^[1] These accounts put the painting within a professional relationship as well as a story about Judith. They invite another question beside what the image means: how the artist obtained payment for her work.

Mullins places Gentileschi within a discussion of women gaining entry to art academies that had been male institutions. ^[3] Read that account beside the payment history. Recognition and remuneration are different parts of a career; one does not, by itself, establish the other.

Do the blood arcs connect art and science?

Bredekamp reads the upward streams of blood alongside Galileo’s work on the curved paths of projectiles. He considers a possible connection through an engraving by Cornelis Galle after a design by Rubens, while leaving alternatives open. ^[4]

Look again at the arcs before accepting that interpretation. Follow where they begin and how far they extend across the shoulder, back and surrounding darkness. Then compare that small area with the complete painting. The proposed connection is one way to think about the detail, but it does not replace the rest of the scene.