I was just in SF, but I actually visited the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (where the above painting lives) about a year ago and shot the whole place, but I never processed the images. I guess I should get around to that, since I love their collection so much (except for the weird impressionist and pre-modern tail end of the collection, which always seems totally out of place).
Judith and paintings related to the Story of Judith remains one of my favourite subjects. Now that apparently painting is acceptable again, I think all graduate students in painting should have to spend six months just touching on biblical subjects – to fill my belly with new stimulations, at least, and at most, to get them to actually learn the craft of painting.
The painting above is by Hans Cranach, and it’s titled Portrait of a Lady of the Saxon Court as Judith with the Head of Holofernes (full label is here). So it falls into one of my favourite art historical areas – paintings and sculptures interpreting their commissioner as a mythological or historical figure. I’m fascinated with this kind of role-play, where the subject is portrayed in terms that immediately become hyperbolic in nature. It’s one thing to have oneself painted in armour or to play dress up, but it’s another thing entirely to wear the mantle of a whole other person.
What I like the most about this particular interpretation is that there’s such a huge disparity between the figure of the woman and the severed head of Holofernes. I like to think that the painter was not particularly interested in his subject, but that he was interested and fascinated by the severed head instead. She seems bored, staring off into space – the eyes of the head are more filled with feeling. My other thought is that the client was so picky that the portrait of the woman was reduced to mediocrity by some kind of editing by committee.
Technorati Tags: Judith, Holofernes, severed head, painting, Hans Cranach, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Legion of Honor, biblical, portrait, 16th Century, museum collection
Maybe he couldn’t get her to sit as still as the head.
I’m totally left wondering who the model for the head was. I’m imagining that it’s a self-portrait of the artist, thinking “Man, this rich lady just won’t stop bitching about this or that.”
[...] (11.15) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2) Marshall Astor, “Another Excuse to Post a Severed Head,“ December 17th, 2007, http://www.marshallastor.com [...]
Obviously, i referenced your post on my narcissistic blog about Judith. Thanks for sharing your view of the world! Judith (the other one)
Amazing. It was this painting that inspired my self-portrait tattoo on my back. Resemblance is striking, my head is severed from the neck, holding my head up with one hand by the hair and tattooing my neck with the other.
http://www.tattoosbydesign.com/rate_my_tattoo/tattoos/viewtatoo.asp?ID=536