Judith
Israhel van Meckenem, the younger
1490–1500
- Medium
- Engraving on ivory laid paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet trimmed within platemark: 21.4 × 31.8 cm (8 7/16 × 12 9/16 in.)
- Genre
- engraving
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
engraving (printing process)engravingprintingprintprints and drawingpaper (fiber product)
About
The biblical heroine Judith freed the Hebrews from Assyrian oppression by seducing the general Holofernes and decapitating him in his drunken stupor. Here Israhel van Meckenem depicted Judith stuffing Holofernes’s head into her maidservant’s pouch while a battle rages in the background. Van Meckenem’s depiction of the gruesome act is matter-of-fact. While the decapitated body remains visible, the sword is clean and the setting devoid of blood.
