1621 (ca.), Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes -- Uffizi Gallery (Florence)
From the museum label: Signed bottom right "Ego Artemitia/Lomi fec.", this painting was probably painted for Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici. Some scholars argue that in painting it, the artist was letting off steam after winning a trial for rape against the painter Agostino Tassi. In actual fact, the theme of Judith seducing and beheading the General Holofernes to relieve her besieged city was not rare in the 17th century and had also been painted by Caravaggio. What is thoroughly novel is the energetic manner in which the heroine accomplishes her task and a taste for the bloodier details of the scene bathed in a dramatic light.
1621 (ca.), Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes -- Uffizi Gallery (Florence)
From the museum label: Signed bottom right "Ego Artemitia/Lomi fec.", this painting was probably painted for Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici. Some scholars argue that in painting it, the artist was letting off steam after winning a trial for rape against the painter Agostino Tassi. In actual fact, the theme of Judith seducing and beheading the General Holofernes to relieve her besieged city was not rare in the 17th century and had also been painted by Caravaggio. What is thoroughly novel is the energetic manner in which the heroine accomplishes her task and a taste for the bloodier details of the scene bathed in a dramatic light.