Spanish school; XVII century. "Judith with the head of Holofernes" Oil on canvas. Redesigned.

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OLD MASTERS - Day 1

By Setdart Auction House

May 31, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-05-31 08:30:00 2021-05-31 08:30:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : OLD MASTERS - Day 1 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/old-masters---day-1-6998
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• Lot Description
  Spanish school; XVII century. "Judith with the head of Holofernes" Oil on canvas. Redesigned. It has restorations and repaints. Measures: 149 x 112 cm. This piece follows the models established by Cristofano Allori (1577-1621), whose work on the same theme can be seen in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The work shows a dark background, in stark contrast with the spotlights that generate the flesh tones of the characters. Among which the protagonist's stands out, following a tradition that was common in the baroque and in the development of the tenebrist trend of the 17th century. In the scene we can observe a young woman in the center of the composition, richly dressed. She appears holding a sword in her right hand, and with the other hand holding the severed head of a bearded man. At her side and in semi-darkness, an older woman appears helping her, dressed in a more humble manner. Some hangings in the upper left place the scene in a tent, which is established by the narration of the biblical account describing the story of Judith and Holofernes. This describes in the biblical book of Judith, belonging to the Old Testament, the story of this Hebrew widow, in the middle of Israel's war against the Babylonian army, erroneously called Assyrian. With beautiful features, high education and enormous piety, religious zeal and patriotic passion, Judith discovers that the invading general, Holofernes, has fallen in love with her. Accompanied by her maid, the widow descends from her walled city besieged by the foreign army and, deceiving the soldier into believing she is in love with him, manages to enter his tent. Once there, instead of yielding to his gallant claims, she intoxicates him. When Holofernes falls asleep, Judith cuts off his head, sowing confusion in the Babylonian army and thus obtaining victory for Israel. This is a frequent theme in the history of art, mainly from the Baroque period onwards. While in the Baroque period the drama and the bloody depiction of the story were expressly sought, and hence the moment of the beheading was generally chosen, in the Neoclassical period a more tempered and epic aesthetic is preferred, as we see here.
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