Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes is a narrative painting that portrays the climax of the biblical story wherein Judith, a Jewish woman, uses her feminine wiles to infiltrate the enemy camp and slay the general besieging her people. Accompanied by her maid, Judith waits until Holofernes is in a drunken stupor, then uses his own sword to cut off his head. The biblical text states that she needed two strokes to decapitate him.
Depiction of Judith and Abra Decapitating Holofernes
In the painting, Judith appears poised for the second stroke. Blood already spurts freely from the partially severed neck, but Holofernes is still alive, struggling and at the same time fully aware of the horrific death that is upon him. His face is agonized and despairing.
Judith's face, on the other hand, wears an expression of intense concentration, as she gathers all her strength to accomplish her task. Her arms are well-rounded, capable and strong; the fingers of her left hand are firmly planted in the victim’s hair, holding his head still. Both she and her maid, Abra, have their sleeves pushed up, like a pair of efficient and practised housewives slaughtering an animal for the table.
The painting’s dark background ensures there is nowhere for the viewer's eyes to take refuge; the viewer can only watch the slaughter with fascinated horror. The scene in the Slaying seems to be taking place on a stage that has been plunged into darkness, with a single spotlight shining directly onto the trio, intensifying the act that is taking place.
Influence of Gentileschi's Rape by Tassi
A major factor that might have influenced Gentileschi’s choice of subject, the ultimate punishment of a man by a woman, was her rape by Agostino Tassi, a colleague of her father’s, and the subsequent trial when her father filed suit against her attacker. According to Mary Garrard in her book Artemisia Gentileschi, the earlier version of this painting was likely painted in 1612-13, soon after the rape experience.
In the Bible story, Holofernes lusted after Judith; in the painting are subtle reminders that Judith adorned herself with the precise intention of disarming him by arousing his desire – the delicate bracelet on her left arm, the low décolletage. But in the end, Holofernes is the one who has been violated in his bed. The upside-down position of the dying man is the embodiment of male power overturned, and ultimately overcome.
Relationships Between Women in Gentileschi's Works
Another character from the episode of the rape was Gentileschi’s erstwhile friend and neighbour, Tuzia, named in the trial as Tassi’s accomplice in gaining access to the Gentileschi home.
As a young woman without mother or sisters, trying to make her way in a world dominated by men, Gentileschi must have been deeply affected by Tuzia’s betrayal. She is not known to have had any more close female friendships for the rest of her life: a lack for which Gentileschi may have tried to compensate, Garrard surmises, by depicting solidarity and unity between the women in her most important paintings. Certainly this is the case in her depiction of Judith, ably assisted by the faithful Abra, whom chose to paint as a strong young woman, capable and determined as Judith herself.
Whatever Gentileschi’s motives and state of mind in painting Judith, Mary Garrard reminds us that is essential to “recognize the positive and healthy elements of the artist’s identification with her character.…For it is not so much the male character who is acted upon, but the female character who acts, that is of interest to (Gentileschi), and who offers her an avenue for psychic self-expansion.”
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