War Languages Judith: Heroine or Femme Fatale

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War LanguagesJudith Heroine or Femme Fatale?

• Vesa Matteo Piludu

University of Helsinki Department of Art Research
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Judith

• Bible Judith 1011-1320
• the apocryphal Book of Judith
• Judith was a Jewish woman who was totally devoted
  to God from the Isrealite town of Bethulia,
  threatened by Assyrian army under the command of
  Holofernes.
• Judith, a Jewish widow, was a woman who was both
  attractive and honorable.
• She was able to seduce Holofernes while he was
  drunk and then she chopped off his head and
  brought it back to Bethulia.
• When the Bethulian soldiers showed the Assyrians
  Holofernes head, they retreated.
• The Israelites easily overtook the Assyrians and
  were able to attack and defeat their army.

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Judith and Judaism

• The story is an allegory picturing Judith as
  Judaism in triumph over its pagan enemy

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Somme le roi Chastity and Judith
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Judy the Chaste

• Having seduced him with her beauty
• but not slept with him !
• hers was a suitable example of chaste behaviour

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Luxury and Potiphars wife - Joseph
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Potiphars wife

• Another example of sexual temperance is shown
  next to Judith and Holofernes. This time male
  restraint is celebrated as we see the young
  Joseph shunning the lustful advances of
  Potiphars wife.
• Furious at this rejection, the woman would later
  accuse Joseph of attempted rape.
• We see her grabbing the cloak that she will use
  as false evidence against the young man

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Alessandro Botticelli. Discovery of the Body of
Holofernes. c.1469-1470
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Botticelli Return of Judith to Bethulia, 1469-70
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Botticelli

• In the Return of Judith to Bethulia, Botticelli
  uses a familiar theme and a familiar type of
  figure. Judith was the female character that
  subdued the male in a hostile environment.
• Many times in Botticellis paintings he explores
  the relationship between sexes and often times,
  the female comes out on top

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Michelangelo. Judith and Holofernes. 1508-1512.
Fresco. Sistine Chapel, Vatican
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Correggio. Judith. 1512-1514.
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Solimena Judith Presenting the Head of
Holofernes to the People (1730)
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Donatello, Judith and Oloferne 1455-60
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DonatelloJudith and Holofernes (detail) 1460
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Donatello, David, 1440
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David, Michelangelo, sculpted from 1501 to 1504
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Mighelangelo, Cappella Sistina, David and Goliath
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Mantegna, Judith 1491
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CaravaggioJudith Beheading Holofernes c. 1598
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Artemisia Gentileschi, 1653 Judith and Her
Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes
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Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes c.
1612-1613

• Gentileschi based her first glimipse on
  Caravaggio's famous painting from c. 1598-1599,
• but enlivens the action with even more powerful
  female protagonists.

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Gentileschi, Judith and her Maidservant c.
1613-14

• Judith is a solid, mature woman with an almost
  goiterous neck, quite unidealised in her looks,
  but dressed in the clothes of a noblewoman.
• She is alert to the danger of her mission, but
  registers caution rather than fear

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The Tassis trial

• A certain Tassi violated Artemisia's virginity, a
  requisite for marriage between decent people. A
  consensual sexual relationship continued because
  he promised to marry her. It is likely that
  Artemisia hoped that he would marry her to
  restore her reputation.
• Her father discovered the assault and charged
  Tassi with rape. The trial was a painful public
  humiliation for Artemisia. During the
  proceedings, she underwent vaginal examination
  and torture with thumbscrews. She was accused of
  being unchaste when she met Tassi and also of
  promiscuity. He also attacked her professional
  reputation.
• It was not until recent years that research by
  Lapierre revealed that Tassi was found guilty. He
  was given the choice of five years hard labour or
  exile from Rome. He choose the latter, but he was
  back in Rome within 4 months, probably due to
  influence in high places.
• Is this painting Artemisia's means of brandishing
  symbolic justice for herself and other victims?

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Boulogne Judith and Holofernes (1626)
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Lama Judith and Holofernes, (1730)
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De Bray 1627 04 Dec 1697 .Judith and
Holofernes
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Liss, Johann
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Allori Judith with the Head of Holofernes
(1615)  
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Giovanni Gioseffo (or Giuseppe) dal SoleItalian
painter who died on 22 July 1719 Judith with the
Head of Holofernes
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Jan Massys 1509-75, Judith
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Cranach the ElderJudith Dining with Holofernes
(1531)
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Cranach the ElderJudith Victorious c. 1530
(1625)
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Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1530)
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Luchas Cranach the Elder Salome, 1530
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Klimt, Jvdith vnd Holofernes (1901)
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Klimt, Jvdith II (1901)