Titian, Gustav Klimt, Johann Liss... Artists reinterpret Judith and Holofornes | National Gallery

What does Judith's expression in this painting say to you? What about that of her maidservant, Abra, looking up at her? Johan Liszt's 1666 Judith in the Tent of Holy Furnace is a powerful painting, which for me tells us two stories. The first is a story of its black presence, a maidservant called Abra. The second is a story that tells about the role of women in society. To consider these stories, we first need to understand what Judith is doing in Holy Furnace's tent. Liszt's painting tells the story of Judith from the Book of Judith, which is included in the Catholic and the Orthodox Bibles, while Protestants consider it apocryphal. That's a story that is widely believed to be true, but it's actually doubtful or unverified, as it contains too many anachronisms. Those are things out of place for the time it's in, just like seeing a smartphone in a movie set in the 1800s. The story revolves around Judith, a brave, beautiful widow, who becomes frustrated with her fellow Jews for their lack of faith in God's deliverance, as they are besieged in the town of Uthula by the Assyrian general, Holy Furnace, under King Nebuchadnezzar. To prevent the Jewish leaders from surrendering, Judith, accompanied by her maid, Abra, sneaks into the enemy camp one night, having cast aside her garments of mourning, and putting on her finest clothes, and wears her best jewelry, intending to seduce and betray Holy Furnace. Charmed by Judith's beauty, Holy Furnace allows her into his private tent, where they drink together, and Judith encourages him to drink excessively, until he eventually passes out in a drunken stupor. With Abra standing guard, Judith seizes the opportunity to behead Holy Furnace, and thus saving her people. Her courageous act leaves his army leaderless, leading to their defeat and the liberation of the Jews. Johann Liszt, born in Germany in the 1590s, became a prominent Baroque painter of the 17th century. He studied in Amsterdam, where he was likely influenced by the works of Peter Paul Rubens, whose version of Judith in the Tent of Holy Furnace, now lost, may well have inspired Liszt's own interpretation. In the 1620s, Liszt moved to Rome, passing through Paris and Venice. In Rome, he painted this powerful version of Judith in the Tent of Holy Furnace. Liszt's use of chiaroscuro, the dramatic contrast of light and shadow, we see the tension in Judith's back muscles, as she delivers the fatal blow, severing Holy Furnace's head in one fluid movement with her right hand, while her left hand places the head into the basket held by her black maidservant, who gazes on in Baroque horror. Judith, her cheeks flushed from the decisive lethal act, meets our gaze defiantly, her eyes locked on ours. This painting embodies all the hallmarks of Baroque art, pulling the viewer directly into the heart of an emotional scene. Filled with drama and movement, made even more vivid by his masterful use of lighting effects. The Book of Judith does not specify the ethnicity or age of Judith's maidservant, Abra, but it does mention that Judith granted Abra her freedom in her old age, indicating that Abra was likely enslaved at the time of the visit to Holy Furnace's tent. The depiction of a black female servant in the Judith narrative can be traced back to Andrea Mantegna's February 1491 drawing for Isabella d'Este. Isabella d'Este was a powerful, influential Renaissance figure, celebrated for her diplomatic skills, cultural patronage, and a role as a leading female patron of the arts. She was often referred to as the First Lady of the Renaissance. In Mantegna's version of the story, Judith's black maidservant is depicted holding a bag into which Judith places Holy Furnace's severed head with their left hand while holding the sword in their right. The two women appear to be in conversation. It is believed that Mantegna's depiction of the black maidservant was drawn from life based on one of Isabella's several black African maidservants. Isabella d'Este was known to collect black girls, favoring those with darker skin, as evidenced by numerous letters in which she instructed her agents to procure young black girls. In 16th century Italy, black servants were considered fashionable accessories among the elites, such as Isabella. They were often given as gifts or bequests and wills and appeared in many portraits by the leading artists of the day. Paolo Veronese and Titian both had black enslaved servants in their portraits to signal the wealth and status of the sitters, such as the attentive black boy gazing up at his mistress in Titian's Laura d'Ante or Veronese's The Finding of Moses with its marginal black boy holding the baby Moses' basket. Both black figures are on the edge of the composition in minor, subservient, supportive roles, reflecting dutifully, looking up to the white figure at the centre of their respective compositions. Both artists did their versions of Judas with the head of Holy Furnace in earlier Renaissance style with its balanced compositions and sense of harmony which told Judas' story like Mantegna with the black maid, but the Renaissance images lacked the Baroque power and drama we see in Lysa's version. In Mantegna's drawing, the black maid servant is portrayed as an almost complicit partner to her mistress, though clearly of a lower social status as indicated by a smaller size, simpler dress compared to Judas. In contrast, Lys's portrayal of Abra shows her as a marginal figure in the composition with a hastily drawn hand holding the basket and only half her head visible. The fear in her eyes underscores the horror of Judas' act as she severs Holy Furnace's head with blood gushing from his neck. In contrast to Mantegna's depiction of Judas as a virtuous woman, other men paint Judas as the seductress, the deceiver of men, and the femme fatale. This darker portrayal is evident in works like Hans Blandongrian's Judas 1525 and Jan Sanders van Hemersen's Judas 1540 with 16th century misogynistic interpretations depict Judas naked with Holy Furnace's severed head. In these works, Judas is portrayed as using her sexuality and cunning rather than her intellect and wit to defeat Holy Furnace. In fact, nearly all depictions of female hermits from this time and the periods before and after it show strong women as deriving their power from their sexuality. A notable exception is the depiction of Judas by the 17th century female artist Artemisia Gentileschi. Here, the female view of Holy Furnace's beheading is different from the male view. Artemisia's Judas is supported by her maidservant Abra. They work together aggressively, dominantly, almost clinically beheading the drunken Holy Furnace. Two strong women with power and agency. The notion that strong women gain their power through their sexuality endured into the modern era with artists like Gustav Klimt, Judas 1901, presenting Judas as a seductress and temptress using his sexual allure to overpower Holy Furnace. I cannot discuss this work's Black presence without considering how the American artist Gehinde Wiley has reinterpreted the Judas story in his own highly distinctive style. Placing a contemporary Black figure at the center of a composition that reworks art traditions Wiley has created two versions of the Judas story both featuring a Black woman as Judas. In each, she holds a sword in her right hand and Holy Furnace's head gripped by the hair in her outstretched left hand. She gazes arrogantly out of the canvas directly engaging the viewer set against a backdrop of intricate floral and botanical motifs reminiscent of William Morris's iconic wallpaper designs. Controversially, in one version Judas holds the head of a white man and in the other, a white woman. Both images provocatively confront historically charged relationships between Black women and white men and Black women and white women. Johann Liszt's 1666 Judas and the Tent of Holy Furnace offers two compelling narratives. Its Black presence highlights the role of Black individuals in Renaissance Europe often portrayed as enslaved servants accessories and symbols of power and status. The other narrative explores the depiction of women in society presenting two contradictory interpretations one as a noble virtuous woman who saves her people from Holy Furnace's army and the other as a seductive femme fatale who lures and then brutally decapitates Holy Furnace. Liszt's painting seems to straddle these two interpretations leaving room for ambiguity. On the one hand Judas' determined expression and the act of saving her people suggest a portrayal of strength and nobility on the other, her flushed cheeks and the gruesome nature of the scene could hint at the dangerous allure of the femme fatale. Ultimately, Liszt might be intentionally blurring the lines between these two depictions. Challenging the viewer to contemplate the complexity of Judas' character. Perhaps the painting is not asking us to choose between these two interpretations but rather to recognise that both can coexist within the same figure a woman who is both a saviour and a temptress capable of great courage and unsettling violence. What do you think? Is it possible that Liszt wanted to capture the multifaceted nature of Judas reflecting the complexities and contradictions inherent in the role of women in society? If you're interested in learning more about art history click here or here and subscribe to our channel. Thank you very much for watching and we'll see you next time.