Artemesia Gentileschi, Judith and the maid with the head of Holofernes, Pitti Palace, Florence
An ode to Judith with the Head of Holofernes – 08/2/11
Gentileschi depicted three faces
in a quite economical space as
though they’d been disturbed
(they look fairly perturbed
as they rush to hide murderous traces.)
The painting is Artemesia Gentileschi’s ‘Judith with her Maidservant’ painted 1613-14 and hanging in the Pitti Palace. The story of the beautiful widow Judith beheading the Assyrian General Holofernes, who was about to destroy her native town of Bethulia, was a favourite subject for Gentileschi.
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