Gustav Klimt... (Part II)

2:44 p.m.

Judith, by Gustav Klimt (1901)
Technique: oil on canvas
According to the Old Testament, Judith is a weak woman, for whom victory would have not been possible had it not been for the help of God. Gustav Klimt transforms her into a femme fatale. 
The artwork refers to the Biblical story of the young Jewish woman that beheads General Holofernes, who wanted to invade her town. Judith was invited to his chambers because he was seeking sexual intercourse, but he is drunk and then murdered.
Away from other paintings depicting the story, like Artemisia Gentileschi's, Klimt does not paint the instant of the killing, but rather a Judith that is posing: she looks straight at us, questioning, and totally detached from what had just happened. Holofernes is barely reduced to a third of his head, below, by the right border.
Klimt depicts the action with no drama or blood, and making of Judith a femme fatale after a passionate night. 
Of all the pieces on display, this one feels so updated that it deserved a post of its own, as a closure to our visit around the Belvedere Museum.

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Liliana Wrobel


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Carla Mitrani

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