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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Judith with the Head of Holofernes
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Judith with the Head of Holofernes

Artist/Maker (Italy, 1646-1712)
Dateca. 1670-1680
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 53 x 39 in. (134.6 x 99.1 cm)
Framed: 61 1/2 x 47 1/2 x 3 in. (156.2 x 120.7 x 7.6 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of George Farkas
Terms
    Object number51.003.000
    DescriptionThe biblical story of Judith, the Jewish widow who saved the Israelites by beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes, was an enormously popular subject in European literature and art beginning in the Middle Ages. In addition to her importance as a heroine and defender of her people, Judith was considered a precursor of Christian triumphs, a prefiguration of Christ’s victory over death, a prototype of the Virgin and the Church, and the embodiment of many sterling virtues. Judith with the Head of Holofernes illustrates the immediate aftermath of the gruesome slaying. Judith holds the bloodied sword with which she has decapitated Holofernes, but she has not yet given the general’s head to her maidservant, Abra, to be placed in a basket in preparation for leaving the enemy camp. The heroine’s beauty, fine clothing, jewels, and bared breast remind the viewer of the sexual entrapment that lead to the downfall of Holofernes, whose lifeless head appears less threatening than the grotesque gargoyle on the stool where Judith is seated.
    On View
    On view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    James Rosenquist
    1972
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Rycroft Painter and Shop
    ca. 525-510 BCE
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Bicci di Lorenzo
    ca. 1435-1440
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Ottaviano Dandini
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Sano di Pietro
    ca. 1460-1480
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Bassa people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Deborah Butterfield
    1991
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Gran Chiriquí
    ca. 800-1200