Judith with the Head of Holofernes
ca. 1530
Medium
Oil on linden
Dimensions
35 1/4 x 24 3/8 in. (89.5 x 61.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1911
Accession Number
11.15
Tags
Art Historical Context
Lucas Cranach the Elder’s *Judith with the Head of Holofernes*, painted around 1530, captures a dramatic moment from the biblical Book of Judith. The Jewish heroine stands poised and resolute, holding the severed head of the Assyrian general Holofernes, whose defeat she engineered to save her people. Cranach, a leading figure of the German Renaissance and court painter in Wittenberg, frequently explored this theme, presenting Judith as both virtuous and triumphant. Created during the early years of the Protestant Reformation, the work reflects the era’s interest in strong female figures from ...
About the Artist
Lucas Cranach the Elder · 1472–1553
Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472-1553) was one of the most prominent German Renaissance painters and a key artistic figure of the Protestant Reformation. Born in Kronach, Franconia, to the painter Hans Maler, Cranach began his career in Vienna around 1502, where he became one of the founders of the Danube School, a movement characterized by expressive landscape painting and emotional force. His ea...