Judith, half-length and in profile to the left, a sword in her right hand and the head of Holofernes in her left hand, an open window at top left
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/4 x 2 5/8 in. (8.2 x 6.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.779
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking engraving by Barthel Be captures the biblical heroine Judith in a dramatic half-length profile, turned to the left. In her right hand, she grips a sword, while her left holds the severed head of Holofernes, the Assyrian general she beheaded to save her people from invasion—a tale from the Book of Judith in the Appha. An open window at top left bathes the scene in subtle light, adding depth and a sense of quiet triumph to her resolute expression. Beham, a 16th-century German artist from Nuremberg and part of the "Little Masters" group, excelled in such intimate-scale works, measur...
About the Artist
Barthel Beham · 1502–1540
Barthel Beham (1502–1540), a pivotal figure in the German Renaissance, was born in Nuremberg into a family of artists. The younger brother of the renowned engraver Hans Sebald Beham, he honed his craft under the tutelage of his elder sibling and the master Albrecht Dürer, absorbing the precise techniques of engraving and painting that defined Nuremberg's vibrant artistic scene. Emerging as a prodi...