Judith and Holofernes

Art Historical Context

Abraham Bosse's *Judith and Holofernes* (1645) is a striking engraving from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection, measuring a intimate 6 15/16 × 4 7/16 inches. This work captures the climactic biblical moment from the Book of Judith, the Jewish widow Judith beheads the Assyrian general Holofernes his own sword to save her besieged people—a tale of cunning heroism and divine justice popular in 17th-century European artAs a master French engraver active during the Baroque era, Bosse excelled in intaglio techniques, using a burin to incise fine, expressive lines into a copper plate. His prints often reproduced famous paintings, making dramatic narratives like this accessible to a wider audience beyond oil canvases. The trimmed sheet emphasizes the raw intensity of the scene: Judith's determined grip on the sword and Holofernes's severed head, evoking tension and moral triumph. Generously bequeathed by Phyllis Massar in 2011, this piece highlights engraving's cultural role in disseminating powerful stories of female agency and violence, bridging religious devotion with artistic innovation in mid-17th-century France.

About the Artist

Abraham Bosse · 1602–1676

Abraham Bosse (1604–1676) was a French printmaker and theorist whose approximately 1,600 etchings provide an unparalleled visual record of 17th-century French life. Born to Huguenot parents in Tours, he trained in Paris under Melchior Tavernier and became a devoted follower of Jacques Callot's technical innovations. Bosse's meticulous etchings depicted subjects ranging from daily life and fashion ...