The Art Of Judith Beheading Holofernes By Caravaggio

Judith Cutting Off the Head of Holofernes (Figure 1), ca. 1640,1 is consisting of a well-dressed female decapitating a middle-age man in his bed with the aid of an old woman. The elegantly dressed female using a sword to behead the man is named Judith. The male figure in the painting is

1597-98). The heroic moment of Judith’s courage to as she beheads the general Holofernes is frozen onto the canvas. Instead of mathematical conventions, form is shown through dramatic tonal rendering, and contrast between the 3 figures and the darkness of the background. Similar to a photograph of a stage play. Caravaggio’s focus on the quality of the subject is the main story-telling factor. Holofernes’ mixed facial expression shows the remaining aspects of shock and panic as if there is still one final breath of life within him as his neck is being cut. However, the clear focus is on Judith herself who, standing relatively far away from the General whom she is beheading, has an unmistakably disgusted facial expression as if she wants to end the act with haste. The overall horrific atmosphere is amplified by the curtain behind the figures, it is the same colour as the blood that is shooting out from Holofernes’ neck, a visual representation to the violent act but also the Judith’s bravery and determination to save her hometown. The clear exaggeration of the blood, and theatrical style is typical of the Baroque visual

His technique was creating shadowy and intense contrasts of light and dark called tenebrism and gradations of light and dark called Chiaroscuro. His usual subject matter was dramatic and realistic. Those who followed him were called Caravaggistis. Among those influenced by him was the painter Orazio Gentileschi and his daughter Artemisia Gentileschi, who he trained, and who became one of the first woman artists of her time to get accepted in Florence's Academy of Design. Her favorite subjects were dark, violent and often involved heroic woman. When you look at some of her work, such as the famous "Judith Slaying Holofernes", you can see some of these characteristics. In this piece you can see she used the signature tenebrism technique, completely darkening the background to highlight the focus of the painting to the action happening in the center, giving dramatic effect. The perspective invites you in and their intense facial features and violent action that is caught in the moment, also add to the drama and realism, making you feel emotionally and realistically involved in the gruesome scene of Judith beheading the assyrian general

I believe, as do others, Judith and the Maidservant with the head of Holofernes is perhaps homage to her rape and subsequent treatment during her adolescent years. Her painting`s inspiration also plays tribute to the biblical story of Judith, who sleeps with the King Holofernes and than decapitates the drunk King in his sleep. Both Judith and the maidservant are now dominate in the painting over the dead male, they are quiet, unobtrusive and tense. A single candle burns within the dark room creating stark contrast between light and dark. The artist`s great skill can be seen in the bright highlighted details of Judith's hand and in the folds of clothing of the two. Depth and dark core detail can also be seen in the dark and reflective shadow areas within the room. Judith's hand covers the candlelight as she peers at the outside world, perhaps in an attempt to help in

We can also see the use of black shades to create a hole at the bottom part of the rock. With his excellent use of colors, we can identify the good, healthy and green grass from the bad, unhealthy, brown grasses. Looking beyond the main focus of the painting, he uses colors to separate the sky from the land in the background creating a solid form of perspective on the painting. He also uses colors to create water forms as seen behind the young character. Now, for the sky, he uses shades of white to magnificently differentiate the thick clouds from the light ones. He also uses this to create a source to light to the whole area. All these put together creates a splendid, realistic and familiar atmosphere for the viewers to relate with.

The first thing I see is the variety of objects located in the painting, the way that there are multiple objects in the painting though seems a little messy and overwhelming, as well as no clear relationship between the objects at first glance. The second principle of design I see in the painting is the use of the asymmetrical balance, this is seen since the image is a collage of different objects the balance objectively is not the same on both sides, however there is a sense of balance between the different types of objects from the makeup products to the fruits and flowers, by how the space the objects occupy roughly the same at first glance. This leads into the scale of the image, most of the objects are roughly the actual size that they are in real life, and the way the objects take up space together is a great example of proportion with the way that all objects relate to each other in size one way or

The Baroque period saw many influential artists and sculptors, however, for the purpose of this assignment I am going to reflect on the works of Bernini and Caravaggio. Bernini’s sculpture, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa and Caravaggio’s painting, the Crucifixion of St. Peter will be what I am going to discuss. Both artists rose to prominence during the Baroque era by employing the artistic techniques unique to the era and playing into the vast influence the Catholic Church held over creativity of this period.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is one of the most famous Baroque painters. His work is full of dramatic scenes that focus on the most dramatic elements. Caravaggio uses dark background to push the subjects to the front of the screen. He is very interested in naturalism and his subjects are often life like and very realistic. One such painting that uses all of these elements is judith Beheading Holofernes. This piece was painted between 1598-1599 using oil and canvas. This art work is currently on display in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica at Palazzo barberini, Rome. The subject of this painting tells the biblical story of Judith, who saved her people from Assyrian gereral Holofernes by seducing and then beheading him. A servant can

These colors draw the viewer s eyes to the figure, and with all the bloody bodies around seems to especially convey the ideas of good Vs. evil, or innocent Vs. impure. All of the opposing characters with guns are all painted in darker colors with black hoods, whereas the center man is adorned in the brightest colors which are very close in shade to the light shining in front of him.

This element you could say is important because it expresses the artist the best and shows what he wanted the painting look and feel like. Also George Gittoes created his painting to feel rough to look glossy and bumpy. This type of paint is called a simulated texture because it looks like form the one given to me but the actual one would have a rough surface glossy look but the that was given to us is photo copy it’s still the same however you don’t get to feel the surface plus the natural feeling of the real painting. For instance if you look at the paint you can notice the texture also if you imagine it in front of you could notice were the smooth areas and bumpy areas are. This is the way the artist has layered and painted his

Caravaggio painting in this work focuses on the young girl (Judith) and Holofernes. The figures are set out in a low stage and sensationally lit from the side. They are isolated against the inky dark background with strong red sheet. The young girl and the old lady are standing somewhat over Holofernes on the right and Holofernes is lying uncomfortably on his back holding the white sheet as the young girl took hold of the hair on his head. It seems that the young girl is trying to murder Holofernes because the expression on Holofernes face looks like he is in danger.

“He flaunted his originality, and mocked authority; he was fearless and belligerent, and in 1606 he killed a man, and spent his last years in exile. His greatest gift was for empathy, for making religious narrative new and vivid.” Caravaggio created many pieces of artwork that involved the subject of death, murder and sacrifice. One of the paintings that he created a strong connection with, is the painting ‘Salome’.

When looking at these works they both give me a strange feeling. Goya’s painting is more depressing than anything, but it almost makes me feel proud of the man in the center as he displays true heroism. The soldiers are comical to me as all I can think about upon looking at them is the Winki Guard from the Wizard of Oz. The long coats and the tall fuzzy hats resemble those from the movie. Caravaggio’s painting is mysterious in the regard that the shadows conceal the men looking and pointing toward Matthew. To add to it everyone around the table is looking at them quite concerned and confused. Overall this painting doesn’t really appeal to me in any regard. However, I can appreciate the shadow work in both paintings.

An ominous version of this painting is done by the successful artist Caravaggio’s version of The Betrayal of Christ, and in this approach of the painting there is more of a dramatic feeling to it. The figures displayed here play an important role, from left to right, we can see John, Jesus, Judas, three Roman soldiers and a man in the back holding a lantern which seems to provide one of the paintings light sources, although the primary light source is not evident. An interesting character is placed in the back, Carravigo himself is located at the upper right-hand corner of the painting. When it comes to the subject matter, it has a deeper appeal to one’s emotions, since the use of dark colors, contrast a sense of sadness and despair, the characters

In this essay, I will discuss the startling differences between two depictions of the story of Judith and Holofernes. “Judith with the Head of Holofernes”, 1495, created by Andrea Mantegna, is a small-scale painting that was completed during the Renaissance. The second is a Baroque painting, “Judith Slaying Holofernes”, c.1620 by Artemisia Gentileschi and is on a larger scale than the version created by Mantegna. Both artworks take inspiration from the religious story that appears in the Catholic editions of the Bible. The story is about a young widowed Jewish woman, by the name of Judith, who murdered an enemy army general, Holofernes, to spare her people from death. I will compare and contrast how the scene has been depicted in rather different ways by each of the artists and the influencing factors that contributed to the overall outcome of both works. I will also be discussing how form and naturalism are portrayed between the two paintings, use of colour, symbolism and religion, as well as the Renaissance and Baroque eras.