Giordano, Luca (1634-1705)
Giuditta mostra la testa di Oloferne (Judith Displaying the Head of Holofernes)
1703–1704
Oil on canvas, 77.5 x 102.9 cm
Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis
The body of the murdered Assyrian general Holofernes forms the focal point in this oil sketch, part of Luca Giordano‘s last cycle of paintings. Holofernes led an army that besieged the city of Bethulia, home to the beautiful Jewish widow Judith. Having accepted the general’s invitation to dine, Judith beheaded him when he fell into an inebriated sleep. Standing as the central figure in this painting, Judith displays the trophy head to rouse the dispirited Israelites. (SLAM)