Judith

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

The biblical heroine Judith freed the Hebrews from Assyrian oppression by seducing the general Holofernes and decapitating him in his drunken stupor. Here Israhel van Meckenem depicted Judith stuffing Holofernes’s head into her maidservant’s pouch while a battle rages in the background. Van Meckenem’s depiction of the gruesome act is matter-of-fact. While the decapitated body remains visible, the sword is clean and the setting devoid of blood.

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