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Judith Beheading Holofernes (Caravaggio)

1590s paintingsChristian art about deathCollections of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte AnticaPaintings about deathPaintings by Caravaggio
Paintings depicting Judith
Judith Beheading Holofernes Caravaggio (c.1598 9)
Judith Beheading Holofernes Caravaggio (c.1598 9)

Judith Beheading Holofernes is a painting of the biblical episode by Caravaggio, painted in c. 1598–1599 or 1602, in which the widow Judith stayed with the Assyrian general Holofernes in his tent after a banquet then decapitated him after he passed out drunk. The painting was rediscovered in 1950 and is part of the collection of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. The exhibition 'Dentro Caravaggio' Palazzo Reale, Milan (Sept 2017-Jan 2018), suggests a date of 1602 on account of the use of light underlying sketches not seen in Caravaggio's early work but characteristic of his later works. The exhibition catalogue (Skira, 2018, p88) also cites biographer artist Giovanni Baglione's account that the work was commissioned by Genoa banker Ottavio Costa. A second painting on the exact same subject (see below) and dated to 1607, attributed by several experts to Caravaggio but still disputed by others, was rediscovered by chance in 2014 and went on sale in June 2019 as "Judith and Holofernes".

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Judith Beheading Holofernes (Caravaggio) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Judith Beheading Holofernes (Caravaggio)
Via Barberini, Rome Municipio Roma I

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N 41.903513888889 ° E 12.490208333333 °
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Palazzo Barberini

Via Barberini
00187 Rome, Municipio Roma I
Lazio, Italy
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barberinicorsini.org

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Judith Beheading Holofernes Caravaggio (c.1598 9)
Judith Beheading Holofernes Caravaggio (c.1598 9)
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Narcissus (Caravaggio)
Narcissus (Caravaggio)

Narcissus is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, painted circa 1597–1599. It is housed in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. The painting was originally attributed to Caravaggio by Roberto Longhi in 1916. This is one of only two known Caravaggios on a theme from Classical mythology, although this is due more to the accidents of survival than the artist's oeuvre. Narcissus, according to the poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, is a handsome youth who falls in love with his own reflection. Unable to tear himself away, he dies of his passion, and even as he crosses the Styx continues to gaze at his reflection (Metamorphoses 3:339–510).The story of Narcissus was often referenced or retold in literature, for example, by Dante (Paradiso 3.18–19) and Petrarch (Canzoniere 45–46). The story was well known in the circles of such collectors in which Caravaggio was moving in this period, such as those of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte and the banker Vincenzo Giustiniani. Caravaggio's friend, the poet Giambattista Marino, wrote a description of Narcissus.The story of Narcissus was particularly appealing to artists according to the Renaissance theorist Leon Battista Alberti: "the inventor of painting ... was Narcissus ... What is painting but the act of embracing by means of art the surface of the pool?"Caravaggio painted an adolescent page wearing an elegant brocade doublet, leaning with both hands over the water, as he gazes at this own distorted reflection. The painting conveys an air of brooding melancholy: the figure of Narcissus is locked in a circle with his reflection, surrounded by darkness, so that the only reality is inside this self-regarding loop. The 16th century literary critic Tommaso Stigliani explained the contemporary thinking that the myth of Narcissus "clearly demonstrates the unhappy end of those who love their things too much."