Judith placing the head of Holofernes onto a cloth held by another female figure, the foreshortened body of Holofernes gushes with blood from the neck

Art Historical Context

In this gripping etching by Jacopo Palma the Younger a Venetian artist active in the late 16th and early th centuries, we witness a pivotal moment from the biblical Book of Judith. The Jewish heroine Judith triumphantly places the severed head of the Assyrian general Holofer onto a cloth held by her servant, while his foreshortened body sprawls dramatically below, blood gushing from the neck wound. Created around 1570–1628, this print the intense drama of Judith's courageous act to save her people from invasion, a popular theme in Renaissance art symbolizing female strength and divine justice. Palma the Younger, a follower of Titian and Palma il Vecchio, employs etching—a meticulous intaglio technique where acid etches lines into a metal plate—to achieve rich contrasts and fluid lines. The small sheet (7 x 8 13/16 inches) intensifies the visceral impact: foreshortening draws the eye to the gory decapitation, heightening Mannerist tendencies toward emotional exaggeration and anatomical distortion. This work exemplifies Venice's printmaking tradition, blending narrative storytelling with theatrical flair. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011), it invites reflection on how such intimate prints disseminated heroic tales to wide audiences, blending piety with sensationalism in the Counter-Reformation era.