Visual Analysis

Judith Slaying
Holofernes
Who is Artemisia Gentileschi?
1593 -1656
She was an Italian Baroque
painter, today considered one of
the most accomplished painters in
the generation following that
of Caravaggio. 
In an era when female painters
were not easily accepted by the
artistic community or patrons, she
was the first woman to become a
member of the Accademia di Arte
del Disegno in Florence and had
international clientele.
 Judith Slaying Holofernes
Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes is believed to be the
main source of this work, and his influence shows in the
naturalism and violence Gentileschi brings to her canvas. In both
there is a notable absence of decorative detail in the
background. Orazio Gentileschi, was also a famous painter; he was
also very much influenced by Caravaggio's style and painted his
own version of the tale, Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head
of Holofernes.
 Judith Slaying Holofernes

In her painting, it shows two

women working together to
kill a man. The two women
were Judith and her
maidservant. The man who they
were both beheading was
Holofernes, who was an
Assyrian general. 
 The FOCAL POINT

Gentileschi’s painting has an

emphasis right on the center
of the work. The act that
Judith and her maidservant
are doing is the focal point
of the painting. In order for
her to make the viewers focus
on the act, she used
different kinds of techniques
to achieve it. 
 TECHNIQUES
One of the techniques she
used is tenebrism, where she
created a contrast between
the background and the
foreground. She made the
background really dark and
then made the subjects of the
painting be dramatically
illuminated. Her use of
tenebrism also set the mood
of the painting and made it
look more dramatic.
 TENEBRISM
Tenebrism, also occasionally
called dramatic illumination, is
a style of painting using
profoundly pronounced chiaroscuro
, where there are violent
contrasts of light and dark, and
where darkness becomes a
dominating feature of the image.
The technique was developed to
add drama to an image through
a spotlight effect,
Baroque period of painting.

Caravaggio: The Calling of St.

Matthew, 1599-1600
The light highlights the face
of the characters to show
their struggles. It can also
be seen that the most
illuminated part of the bodies
in the painting are the arms
of Judith and the maidservant.
The arms catch the viewer’s
attention and make them follow
their direction or where the
arms are heading. That leads
to the other techniques she
used, which are movement and
line. 
 Lines and Movement

She used directional lines to

guide the viewer’s eyes. Her
usage of lines creates a
movement that makes the
viewer’s eyes follow a path
that leads to the focal
point. 
 Balance
The position and placement of
the subjects also made the
act really be the focal point
of the painting. Not only did
the placement set the focal
point of the painting, but it
also made the work be
balanced. The placement of
the maidservant, Judith, and
Holofernes’ legs made the
painting symmetrically
balanced.
 Sense of Death & Illusion of
Space
The size of Holofernes’ legs and
the maidservant is smaller than
Judith and Holofernes’ head.
That made it appear that the
head and Judith are closer than
the legs and the maidservant.
The overlapping of the subjects
also made it look more three-
dimensional and the shape that
appears to overlap another seems
closer than the one behind it.
In the painting, Judith is
overlapping the maidservant and
one of Holofernes’ arm.
 Another thing that
Gentileschi has incorporated
in her painting is implied
motion. She made it look like
the painting is alive and
moving. Unlike other painting
that looks flat and lifeless,
Judith Slaying Holofernes is
a painting where it looks
like the subjects are moving
and the audience can watch
both women behead Holofernes
Artemisia was able to do this
because of the visual clues
that she has given in the
work. In her painting, the
visual clue is the blood that
is spurting out of his neck
and dripping down the bed
sheets.
 All of the techniques that
Artemisia Gentileschi used
helped her show and express
the message of the painting
better. She depicted
Holofernes as a powerful and
muscular man. Artemisia used
the light to highlight
Holofernes’ muscular arms and
so as his hand that is
grabbing the maid servant’s
clothing. 
She also made his hands bigger
to show how brawny he is.
However, it can be seen in the
painting that Judith and her
maidservant are beheading the
general, who Gentileschi
portrayed as strong, but both
women have overpowered him.
Since Judith and the
maidservant are trying to
execute a man who seemed to be
stronger than them, the artist
showed their struggle in both
women’s faces.
The force that the women have
to have to kill Holofernes
can be seen in both their
hands. Judith’s hands can be
seen grabbing Holofernes’
hair and the way her hand is
positioned while holding the
sword shows that the strong
general is still trying to
fight back even though he is
drunk.
 According to Wikipedia, the
maidservant and Judith’s act
of beheading Holofernes is a
“part of the group of
subjects art critics have
called the "Power of Women",
which show women triumphing
over powerful men." It is
said that Judith was doing
this murderous act only
because to save her town,
which is Bethulia. Judith was
able to slay Holofernes by
planning it carefully.
 She tried to seduce by
dressing up to catch his
attention then get the
Assyrian general drunk and
fall asleep. As Holofernes
began to fall asleep, Judith
then grabbed his sword and
later beheaded him with the
help of her maidservant. This
bloody act is viewed as a
heroic act because she has
saved the town of Bethulia
from the Assyrian army
 Gentileschi painted another
painting, Judith and her
Maidservant (1613–14), which
shows Judith holding a dagger
while her maidservant carries
a basket containing a severed
head.
This painting may be gory and
brutal, but if a person
looked at it closer and paid
attention to the details, he
or she can see the true and
deeper meaning of the
artwork. From the blood
dripping down the sheets to
the facial expressions of the
subjects that capture their
emotions. Artemisia
Gentileschi has done a very
good job in her painting