Fede Galizia (Milan c. 1578 - c. 1630) Circle
Victorious Judith
Oil on canvas (116 x 91 cm. - In antique frame 149 x 125 cm.)
Complete details of the work (click HERE)
The work illustrates a fascinating portrait of the heroine Judith: victorious, at the center of the painting, the woman is depicted in her regal attire, with precious ornaments and jewels, the sword still fiercely held in one hand and the head of Holofernes displayed with the other.
This iconographic subject was much loved during the Renaissance, as it lent itself to the taste of the time for the representation of strong, often fatal, passions, while simultaneously embodying great moral values.
It is, in particular, the biblical episode of the killing of the Babylonian general Holofernes by the beautiful and courageous Jewish widow Judith, who had devised a cunning plan to free her people from foreign domination. The woman waited for the end of a lavish banquet organized in honor of Holofernes and, after seducing him, waited for the man to fall asleep to kill him. She is depicted here immediately after her exploit, with the old servant Abra witnessing the scene.
There is an evident discrepancy between the self-satisfied composure for the success achieved, the grace and calm of the woman with the head in the foreground: the author has indeed chosen to emphasize the heroine more than the event itself, directing our gaze to Judith's virtues, through which her courage managed to defeat evil.
The depiction therefore has a profound symbolic value: despite the atrocious act that sees her as the protagonist, Judith embodies great moral values. Presented as a symbol of salvation that God offers to the Jewish people, she also rises to become an emblem of the Church itself and its salvific role, emphasized by the ethereal white of the woman's complexion, which evokes purity.
The details with which the jewels she wears have been rendered deserve mention, which highlight her beauty, such as the belt that encircles her waist, or the garments covered with precious stones and pearls, as well as the clasp placed in her hair, and also the hilt of the sword, finished with great skill.
This is a valuable work, executed between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, still in the 16th-century style and with unmistakable Lombard stylistic characteristics, which at first glance evoke the name of Fede Galizia (Milan, 1578 - 1630), a Baroque painter, known mainly for her still lifes although she also engaged in portraits and religious scenes.
The painter has tackled this subject on numerous occasions; for example, our image finds comparison, albeit revisited, with "Judith with the Head of Holofernes" in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, or with the same subject, signed and dated 1596, in the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota (**).
In the latter painting too, as in the work proposed, the painter's attention is not on the dramatic aspect of the scene, but focuses on the portrait of Judith, on the perfect rendering of the clothes, fabrics, and jewels.
We know, in fact, regarding the refinement with which Fede Galizia rendered these details, that the painter benefited from the fame achieved by her father Nunzio Galizia's workshop, which specialized in the production of paintings and miniatures, as well as the creation of splendid ceremonial dresses and theatrical costumes.
**Judith with the Head of Holofernes - Fede Galizia (Milan c. 1578 - c. 1630), 1596, oil on canvas, 120 × 94 cm.
Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota
URL: https://emuseum.ringling.org/objects/24553/judith-with-the-head-of-holofernes
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The painting is sold complete with a pleasant gilded frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.
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