Portrait of Judith

 

This artist made many versions. 

In the one on my wall, her pale young face

is closed, still, calm – the delicate lips

in a thin, straight line, 

the downward-looking eyes 

narrowed, calculating. 

Her clothes are sumptuous,

expensive, from a past era

(Renaissance?). I want a coat like  that,

with green velvet sleeves

richly embroidered, like the pale red

bodice of her dress.

It’s only a print. And only a part

of the whole painting. I don’t have

other portraits on my walls (I like 

landscapes and abstracts) but she

intrigued me. Eventually 

I looked her up.

The part of the portrait 

not shown in my print

is the wide-eyed severed head

of Holofernes, his mouth half open 

in a dead scream. One of her hands

is tangled in his hair.

In some versions she holds erect 

a massive sword. In most, 

her expression is smug.

Her elaborate hat

and costly gown

have not a trace of blood.

The version on my wall. It’s by Lucas Cranach the Elder, painted circa 1530, which was indeed in the Renaissance period.

Written for the Early Bird prompt For Na/GloPoWriMo 2025.

Statement in Context

 Statement in Context

‘I am calm,’ she declared, 

‘and in possession of myself’ –

proclaiming this with her eyes, 

her expression, her bearing 

(her rich clothing, 

her carefully arranged 

hair and accessories, 

mere background to her poise).

So I brought her home, 

where she gazes at me 

with constant composure – young, 

but someone to be relied on.

Always intrigued, my son 

searched her image many years later

for the artist’s name, and found 

Lucas Cranach the Elder. 

And found many versions 

of this painting. Also, 

it became apparent that my print 

showed only part of the whole.

She is revealed as Judith: 

Jewish heroine, slayer of the tyrant 

Holofernes. She cut off his head 

with his own sword.

‘An icon of female rage,’ 

says one description. But no fury 

shows on her face, nor in her pose, 

in any variation of the painting.

Holding the sword aloft 

over the ghastly head, 

she continues to assert

a now surreal, terrible calm.

Written for Weekly Scribblings #74 at Poets and Storytellers United, where Magaly invites us to convey the point of view of a character in a painting. This is perhaps more my point of view about her point of view – but that would actually be the case even if I fictionalised it and spoke as her. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Background: I was working in a municipal library. Some posters arrived, including one which had not been ordered. Rather than go to all the trouble of sorting out the misunderstanding and returning it for a refund, the Chief Librarian asked if anyone would like to have it, and I volunteered.  Yes, the final image above is slightly different from the print I have, which is shown in the first image, framed and still hanging on my wall many years later. (The story is that Judith, a young widow, seduced Holofernes in order to kill him, hence the finery she is wearing.)

Click on middle picture for a better view of the various versions. It seems that several are on public display at different galleries.