I chose to do the painting of Judith slaying Holofornes from the Uffizi Museum in Florence. The painting was painted between 1618 and 1620 and is 79” by 64”.
Iconography
To me, it looked like he was sleeping and Judith and her maid came in to kill him. The maid looks uncomfortable by her facial expression and the fact that Holofornes has his hand on her. Judith’s hand and arm are twisting to show that she is literally sawing off his head. By her facial expression and the fact that it looks like she is using her whole body to cut, it was no easy task. According to the story, she used his sword to kill him, and brought his head back to her city to scare his army away from the city.
Iconography
To me, it looked like he was sleeping and Judith and her maid came in to kill him. The maid looks uncomfortable by her facial expression and the fact that Holofornes has his hand on her. Judith’s hand and arm are twisting to show that she is literally sawing off his head. By her facial expression and the fact that it looks like she is using her whole body to cut, it was no easy task. According to the story, she used his sword to kill him, and brought his head back to her city to scare his army away from the city.
Nice blog Andrea! I like the story that goes along with that painting. I'm pretty sure I would be pretty uncomfortable if I had to kill someone as well, I wonder why she did it? Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, good. Who was Holofornes? and why did Judith have to slay him?
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