Judith Beheading Holofernes

Caravaggio, c. 1598

The story comes from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament. The Jewish town of Bethulia was under siege by the Assyrian army and its general, Holofernes. When the residents were at the brink of capitulation, the beautiful widow Judith devised a scheme for their deliverance. Dressing in her finest clothes, Judith left Bethulia with her maid and entered the Assyrian camp as an ostensible deserter. Holofernes found her a welcome addition to his camp, as much for her beauty as for her veiled promise to assist in the defeat of the Jews. After a banquet, at which Holofernes became drunk, the general lured the beautiful widow into his tent. He quickly fell asleep, however, and Judith seized the opportunity to cut off his head with his own sword. Together with her maid, who stuffed Holofernes' head into a bag, Judith stole back to Bethulia. Once apprised of Judith's heroic act, the Bethulian soldiers charged from the city and defeated the Assyrian army.

Holofernes has about the posture and expression on his face that I would expect to have myself, were I to be suddenly awakened from a drunken slumber for my beheading. But Judith seems to be headchopping in an abstract way—although she's got a firm grip on his hair, her posture doesn't quite seem to permit the leverage that would be required to complete the chopping in the most efficient way. She regards Holofernes from a distance, leaning slightly backward. And the "maid" is hardly paying any attention to the good general at all—she's got the bag ready for Judith and seems to say, "Well then, let's have this done now already..." I imagine that Judith is wearing a clothes contemporary with Caravaggio's time. So imagining Caravaggio alive today, would he have painted her in the fashions of the 21st century? Everytime I've seen a play or opera performed by characters in contemporary dress, I've liked it. A performance of Coriolanus up in Ashland comes to mind—the politicians wore business suits, and the soldiers wore khakis and fired machine guns.

Sheet Metal T Rex

Cole and I photoshopped this while waiting for Gloria to return from walking the dog.