Judith Slaying Holofernes By Artemisia Gentileschi

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‘Judith Slaying Holofernes” is an oil on canvas painting painted by an Italian female artist Artemisia Gentileschi completed between 1614-20 in the last Renaissance period. It now lives at Museo Di Capodimonte in Naples, Italy.

Religious Value: This is a dramatic but powerful painting which comes from “Apocryphal book of Judith” in the Old Testament of the Bible. The biblical story inspired many of her paintings.In this painting it shows Judith who is a young widow from the Jewish City of Bethulia and a biblical herione beheading the general of the Assyrian army. The King of Nineveh sent this general, Holofernes to kill his enemies which were the Jewish people. A lot of Jewish people in Bethulia where Judith lived got killed and began losing hope. Judith decided to take things into her own hands and snuck into the camp where they were staying. She seduced Holofernes with her beauty, this causing Holofernes to drink more than he planned and becoming extremely drunk. When he is out of sane Artemisia see’s it as her chance and beheads him with the help of her maid who is the second woman in this painting holding him down. Ever since then Judith has been seen a biblical heroine and looked up at for standing up for her town against the Assyrians. So this is painting has a religious value mostly for Jews as the painting can be seen as there sign of freedom. …show more content…

Even though he was imprisoned it still ruined Artemisia reputation. It also angered and haunted her causing her to paint a lot of her feelings in paintings. We see her feelings in this brutal and graphic painting where Judith is killing Holofernes, it is believed she has painted herself as Judith and her mentor as Holofernes making the painting very

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