Artemisia Gentileschi, “Judith Slaying Holofernes,” 1620 (Florence, Uffizi)

Marjorie Och’s review of the exhibition “Violence and Virtue: Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes” and the exhibition’s accompanying catalogue (Yale University Press, 2014) will appear in the fall/winter issue of The Woman’s Art Journal. The exhibit, at the Art Institute of Chicago (Oct. 17, 2013 to Jan. 9, 2014), focused on this one work of 1620 within the context of Gentileschi’s career. Gentileschi, one of the premier artists of the Italian Baroque, produced the painting while she was in Florence seeking the support of the ruling Medici family. The painting eventually enters the Medici collection, but was hidden from view for centuries, likely because of the realistic depiction of Judith, the heroine of her people, decapitating Holofernes, enemy of the Israelites. Unlike most depictions of this subject, which show Judith as a delicate woman incongruously murdering her enemy, Gentileschi represents Judith as a powerful figure acting on her own. The exhibit and catalogue demonstrate the importance of focusing on a single work; both encourage the viewer/reader to contemplate what is evident in the painting—Gentileschi’s technique and the narrative she depicts—as well as how the work might have been understood by her contemporaries.