Judith

c. 1540

According to the biblical story, the widow Judith saved her people from being slaughtered by the Assyrian army by infiltrating the tent of the enemy general, Holofernes. She then seduced and beheaded him. Jan van Hemessen's life-size interpretation reflects men's ambivalence toward female agency in 16th-century Netherlands. It celebrates Judith's physical and moral strength but also foregrounds the sexuality that enabled her triumph.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Jan Sanders van Hemessen (Netherlandish, active c. 1519–1556)

Date

c. 1540

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

99.1 × 77.2 cm (39 × 30 3/8 in.); Framed: 119.7 × 97.8 × 6.4 cm (47 1/8 × 38 1/2 × 2 1/2 in.)

Origin

Netherlands

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Wirt D. Walker Fund