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Judith with the Head of Holofernes

Judith with the Head of Holofernes

Artist (Italian, 1578 – 1630)
Date1596
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsImage: 47 1/2 × 37 in. (120.7 × 94 cm)
Frame: 56 7/16 × 45 15/16 × 2 3/4 in. (143.3 × 116.7 × 7 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Polak, 1969
Object numberSN684
Fede Galizia was the daughter of a painter, and spent most of her career in Milan. Though she is best known today for her still lifes, she also painted portraits and narrative works, such as this scene from the deuterocanonical Book of Judith. The Assyrian general Holofernes, who wished to destroy the Jews of Bethulia, became enamored with Judith, a Jewish widow. Invited into his tent, Judith, with help from her maidservant, was able to decapitate Holofernes with his own sword, thereby liberating her people. Galizia signed and dated the work on the blade of the sword.
On View
On view
Location
  • Museum of Art, Gallery 08, Wall East
Collections
Bibliography

Pergola, Paola Della. Galleria Borghese(Rome: 1959) no. 30.

Tomory, Peter. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings before 1800 (Sarasota: 1976)  p. 54, ill. fig. 46.

Harris, Ann Sutherland and Linda Nochlin. Women Artists: 1500-1950. (New York: 1977) p. 115.

Janson, Anthony F. Great Paintings from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (New York: 1986) p. 102, ill. fig. 10.

Caroli, Flavio, ed. Fede Galizia (Milan: 1989) pp. 81-82, ill. fig. 2.

Garrad, Mary D. Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Baroque Art (Princeton: 1989) pp. 313-315, 554-555 (no. 92a), ill. fig. 279.

"Fede Galizia," Still Life in Italy (Milan: 1989) cat. no. 253, ill. p. 223.

Alter, Rosilyn. "Curators Spotlight: Courageous Heroine Depicted by a Woman
Artist," Ringling Museum Bulletin (May/April, 1990) p. 11.

Joannides, Paul. "Titian's Judith and it's Context: The Iconography of Decapitation," Apollo 135 (March 1992) ill. fig. 4.

Apostoloa-Cappadona, Diane. Encyclopedia of Women in Religious Art (New York: 1996) ill. fig. 38.

Borzello, Frances. A World of Our Own: Women as Artists (New York: 2000) pp. 16, 44-46, 218 

Dixon, Annette, ed. Women who Ruled: Queens, Goddesses, Amazons in Renaissance and Baroque Art (London: 2002) pp. 86-87.

Merling, Mitchell. Ringling the Art Museum (Sarasota: The Ringling Museum of Art, 2002) p. 64.

Uppenkamp, Bettina. Judith und Holofernes in der italienischen Malerei des Barock (Berlin: 2004) cat. no. 49.

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