ATTRIBUTED TO BARTOLOMEO CAVAROZZI. Attributed to. Judith and the Head of Holofernes, oil on canvas, 113 x 134 cm.

BARTOLOMEO CAVAROZZI
Italy, circa 1590 - 1625, attributed to
Judith and the Head of Holofernes
Oil on canvas, 113 x 134 cm

EXPERTISE
Cabinet Turquin, Stéphane Pinta, Paris

PROVENANCE
Rapps Konsthandel, Stockholm
Swedish private collection

Judith is the heroine of the book of Judith in the Old Testament. A young Jewish-born widow living in Bethulia, south of the plain of Jezreel. She opposed the sages in the city who planned to hand over their city to the Assyrian general Holofernes, who besieged it. Filled with divine power, she took off her widow's costume and dressed magnificently and adorned herself with jewels. Together with her faithful servant, Abra, she crossed the enemy camp and entered the tent of Holofernes. Enchanted by Judith's dazzling beauty, he let her approach. At that moment Judith seized the crooked sword of the mighty commander and struck him in the neck.

In the painting of the auction, we still see the two women in the general's purple tent. Abra is completely devoted to Judith, who puts Holoferne's head in a sack. They will soon leave the enemy camp to triumphantly return home to Betulia.

This biblical story was a common motif in Western art, especially during the 16th and 17th centuries. Judith has become the symbol of every resistance against an oppressor, whoever it may be.

Abra's face with the marked wrinkles reminds us of the paintings of Caravaggio made around 1600, and which Bartolomeo Cavarozzi admired in Rome. Born in Viterbo, he came to Rome very early and immersed himself in the then dominant caravaggism, and repeatedly resumed compositions by the great master. The framing of the two women is also reminiscent of the versions of Judith and Abra painted by Gentileschi a few years later.

Compare this painting with Cavarozzi's "The Holy Family", which was sold at Sotheby's in London on December 17, 1998 (oil, 152x114 cm, catalogue number 80). The two paintings have similar color and light effects.

Oil on canvas attached to panel covered with canvas, retouches.