Artwork Description:
The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is the subject of many paintings and sculptures in art history. The story depicts Judith as a beautiful widow, who is able to enter Holofernes tent, an Assyrian general about to destroy the city of Bethulia, because of his carnal lust for her, but Holofernes becomes drunk, and passes out and dies decapitated by Judith.
I was inspired by the story of this allegorical and exciting nature of the Judith and Holofernes scene which continues to inspire many artists.
My painting is a reinterpretation of the Judith made by Gustav Klimt. My painting represents a dreamlike and seductive and arousing woman with an open shirt, but the dancing skeletons give the painting a frightening atmosphere a deadly erotic one. The story suggests that the male ego is an ugly face to show and it always ends in fear and violent fantasies entangled in an eroticized death.
In most depictions, Judith becomes, in dazzling nudity, the epitome of depraved seduction, but I added the symbol of innocence signaled by the daisies flowers which in my painting signify a loss of innocence be it by a carnal endeavor or by the act of murder.
Artwork Keywords:
Lost Innocence, Life And Death, Innocence, Decapitated, Jared Leto As Holofern, Judith, Holofern, Original Painting