Why did judith killing holofernes

Its theme, then, was curiously turned against the family that it was meant to honor: Piero de Medici had become tyrannical; like the fabled Holofernes, his "head" was cut off by the Florentine people. The statue was moved four more times following Piero's expulsion. A short while after its original move, it was transferred to the courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio, and later into the Loggia dei Lanzi. In , the statue was moved to the left side of the Palazzo Vecchio.

It underwent restoration during the twentieth century, during which time it was briefly replaced by a bronze replica. Shortly after, it was moved to a permanent home in the Sala dei Gigli inside the Palazzo Vecchio. Allegoric Figure of a Boy.

Bearded Prophet. Donatello was a Florentine artist who worked and lived during the Early Renaissance. The son of a wool-carder, he was apprenticed early on to a goldsmith and a little later to Renaissance master Lorenzo Ghiberti. Donatello struck out on his own in his late teens and met with instant success and acclaim. He worked alongside Brunelleschi for many years and together the two of them paved the way for the High Renaissance and the evolution of Western art as it is known today.

Donatello was known primarily for his fascination with individualism and naturalism, two crucial tenets of the Early Renaissance. He was obsessed with giving his subjects as human and as natural a look as possible, concentrating on giving them just the right posture, expression and gesture, as seen in Judith and Holofernes. Few, if any, will dispute that he reached his goal admirably; he produced some of the most important sculpture of the Renaissance and indeed in all of Western art.

Donatello was not a religious man but he was extraordinarily popular with the church for his vivid and deeply moving renderings of many religious figures. His preoccupation with emotion is probably responsible for the affecting quality of his work. The artist spent considerable time in both Rome and Padua, where his fame and reputation continued to grow.

While away from Florence, he sculpted the famous equestrian statue, Gattamelata, which broke the mold and would inspire artists for decades to come.

Thus, Donatello was an immensely influential and vital part of the Renaissance. The Early Renaissance was a time of slow but steady growth and experimentation. The art world was gradually moving beyond the rigidity and unimaginative Gothic movement and artists were beginning to experiment more with tone, theme and the overall appearance of their subjects. For the first time, traditional interpretations of revered religious icons were acceptable: it was no longer strictly necessary to bathe all saints in holy light; now, they could be portrayed as the fallible humans that they were.

They could experience joy, fear, anger, sorrow and everything in between. The Early Renaissance was also characterized by a strong emphasis on individualism and naturalism. Artists began to place more importance on bringing out the details and minutiae of an individual. Donatello and Brunelleschi are very often credited with moving the Early Renaissance into the High Renaissance - Donatello for sculpture, Brunelleschi for architecture.

Both were visionaries in their respective fields. With the inspiration and insight their work provided, Western art was able to move forward to the time of Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael and other great artists. To find out more about Donatello please choose from the following recommended sources. The Sword of Judith. Judith Studies across the Disciplines.

Sculpture of Donatello. Storytelling in Christian Art from Giotto to Donatello. Donatello: Sculptor. Caravaggio, like her a master of chiaroscuro, was a close friend of her father Orazio, also a painter: being the daughter of an artist was one of the few entry points to the profession for a woman of the time.

Aged 12, her father widowed, she became the matriarch of the family. When Artemisia was 13, the turbulent Caravaggio, her greatest and most enduring artistic influence, had to flee Rome, having stabbed a man to death in a brawl: Caravaggio, a man of the streets and alleys and a connoisseur of low life, always carried a dagger.

His victim had links to the papal court. Artemisia was then given lessons by another artist, another friend of her well-connected father, highly regarded in his day, Agostino Tassi. In , when she was 17, he was accused of raping her. A trial ensued lasting more than six months, during which Artemisia — not Tassi — was tortured under questioning: she was forced to endure the sibille — ropes tightened around her fingers, like the wedding ring Tassi had promised her, she claimed sarcastically.

He was cleared of the allegations and Artemisia left Rome, with the shadow of shame and dishonour hanging over her, to travel throughout Italy, mastering her prodigious skills. Unfortunately, as a young woman, Artemisia was raped by one of her father's assistants - Agostino Tassi The latter was a violent, unpleasant man who reportedly also raped his sister-in-law and murdered his wife.

But because he was one of the most outstanding exponents of quadratura illusionist painting and was pardoned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, after serving only 12 months in jail. As a result, art critics - both then and now - view her paintings of Judith Beheading Holofernes as an autobiographical statement of revenge.

Whether true or not, her reputation as an outstanding exponent of Baroque painting is stronger than ever. Judith Beheading Holofernes - also called Judith Slaying Holofernes - is based on the Old Testament story contained in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, which details the assassination of the Assyrian general Holofernes by the Israelite Judith, a traditional example of virtue and chastity.

In the story, Holofernes is about to destroy Judith's home city of Bethulia, but she uses her beauty to gain access to the general's tent, and decapitates him after getting him helplessly drunk.

The painting depicts the moment that Holfernes wakes from his stupor, just as Judith, aided by Abra her maidservant, is trying to behead him. It was a popular story often used by Italian Baroque artists to show women triumphing over tyrannical men. Gentileschi used herself as the model for Judith, and Tassi as the model for Holofernes.