Book of Judith

In both Jael and Sisera and Judith Beheading Holofernes, the women appear in dominant positions over the men. However, the two women are presented very differently in the works. Both illustrate very similar Old Testament stories which involve some moral ambiguity surrounding the actions of the heroines. They offer commentary on the dubious nature of the murders in differing manners through their representations of the women, violence, bloodshed, and their settings. The engraving of Judith presents a complex and contradictory version of Judith and her murder while the woodcut of Jael simplifies the event and the murder of Sisera. The plots of both stories are almost identical. Jael is a Kenite woman, and Judith is an Israelite. Both women…

When you open the story of Judith you are greeted with a beautiful woman who is mourning the death of her husband. By today’s notion this women will remain heart broken and only do things to remember the lost love one they are mourning for. Instead we are given a totally different side of Judith as she carries out an act that most of the men in her home are too afraid to do. This story is not only one of Anglo-Saxon proportion but one of Biblical tales as well. Though both of them are about the…

The story of Judith slaying Holofernes is widely interpreted in many paintings. The story comes from the Book of Judith. Judith was a wealthy, young, and beautiful widow. She decided to travel to the Assyrian commander in chief, Holofernes, to seduce him into leaving Bethulia. She dressed in her finest clothes and jewelry and entered the Assyrian encampment. She charmed Holofernes over the next few days. Once she gained his trust she got him drunk. Before he could attempt any sexual advances she…

Caravaggio’s painting Judith Beheading Holofernes examines goodness and purity in spite of engaging in the act of sinning. Painted in c.1598, using oil on canvas, this painting illustrates a scene from the biblical Book of Judith. It depicts three subjects in what appears to be a bed chamber. The middle subject, Judith is portrayed in the act of beheading the Assyrian commander, Holofernes while her maid looks on (fig. I). In this painting, Judith retains her status of purity and goodness even…

As Margarita Stocker points out, “man was seduced into the Fall by the dangerous sexual lure of womankind;” therefore, she argues, Biblical texts use this as a justification to condemn the sexuality of women as a corruptive force. However, Stocker adds that in Book of Judith God is “using sexuality to vanquish the pagan and save the chosen people.” Stocker posits that Judith, as a sensual woman and eventual murderess, violates many moral standards of Judaism (Stocker 3-4). This suggests that…

The art during the Renaissance and “High Renaissance” was the start to break away from art being made for religious purposes. However, that is not to say that all art during that period was non-religious art. German artist, Lucas Cranach, was still very involved the painting of religious pieces that told stories from the Bible. “A Portrait of a Lady of the Saxon Court as Judith With the Head of Holofernes”, tells the story of Judith going into the tent of Holofernes and seducing him while he…

Judith Beheading Holofernes was painted in 1602, this painting of Judith beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio. Judith is a widow who charms the Assyrian general Holofernes first, then executes him at his camp. The painting was relived in 1950 and is now part of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica collection located in Rome. Recognizing real Caravaggios is a little more complicated because he has a strange place in the history of art. He was notorious and famous in the 17th century and he enthused…

Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Beheading Holofernes is a depiction of the story of Judith from the Old Testament of the Bible and how she saved her city by seducing the invading army’s general, Holofernes, and then got him drunk and cut off his head with his own sword. Judith and her servant then snuck back to the town with the general’s head in a basket. The town displayed the prize the next day and the invading army retreated. The most striking visual elements of this piece are the use of the…

from the Apocryphal book of Judith. In this story, a beautiful and loyal widow saves the Israelite town of Bethulia from Nebuchadnezzar 's army, who are under the command of Holofernes. While modeling her finest clothes, she pretends to destroy the invading Assyrian army. She is then taken to Holofernes, where she flatters and captivates him by her beauty and oath to help him overcome the Israeli resistance. After this meeting, she accepts Holofernes invitation to live with him. One evening,…

many varying faces and personalities’ rushes through your head? Audre Lorde and Judith Butler are two such writers that share a connection through their craft and their meaning. Though they may have these general similarities, they have their own approaches to specific problems and issues. In society, people are thrust into categories previously developed to further relate one to another. For both of these theorists, the groupings that individuals are thrown into are lacking to say mildly.…