One thing I really appreciated in my art history course was when the professor contrasted Gentileschi's depiction of Judith slaying Holofernes with Caravaggio's. You can feel the difference. Caravaggio's Judith shrinks from the violence. Holofernes almost seems to let them behead him.
Gentileschi's Judith is not only an active participant in violence, but the women are overpowering Holofernes. There's a level of visceral physicality to her depiction that isn't present in Caravaggio's that suggests a more personal connection to the work that is found in her experiences as a woman.
I saw this one in the Naples exhibition a couple of years ago and Judith’s face particularly struck me. It’s obviously Gentileschi herself but the personhood! The emotion!
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