Category:Judith (subject)

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Judith is a literary character, the protagonist of the Book of Judith.

Overview

According to the book of Judith, Judith was a wealthy and beautiful widow, who freed her people by killing Nebuchadnezzar's general Holofernes who was about to invade the land of Israel.

Judith in literature & the arts

Judith enjoyed an extraordinary success in Christian iconography, especially in the period of the Counter-Reformation, as a symbol of the inviolability and invincibility of the Church. What made the subject so appealing to artists and audience, however, was not as much its theological meaning but rather the opportunity it offered to portray a heroine in which beauty and strength were united. Judith was usually depicted in the act of beheading Holofernes, or triumphant with the sword and the head of Holofernes, often in company with her maidservant, by artists such as Titian, Caravaggio, Valentin de Boulogne, and many others.

In the 18th century, the most illustrious composers (including Scarlatti and Vivaldi) made Judith the protagonist of celebrated oratorios. La Betulia liberata by Pietro Metastasio became one of the most popular librettos, set to music by numerous composers, including the young Mozart.

In the 19th century, Judith as other biblical heroines underwent her transformation into an Oriental beauty. The result was that her character became more and more similar to, and competing with, that of Salome.

By the early 20th century, Salome replaced Judith as the most popular Biblical heroine, by taking up most of her features and adding that touch of youthful perversion that the pious widow Judith could not have.

See Judith (arts)

Judith in scholarship

Judith is a literary character. Scholarly research have focused either on the study of the character in her original literary context (see Book of Judith), or on the study of the Judith tradition over the centuries (see in particular Judith, Sexual Warrior (1998 Stocker), book, and The Sword of Judith (2010 Brine / Ciletti / Lähnemann), edited volume).

The suggestion that Judith could be a fictional counterpart of the Hasmonean Queen Salome Alexandra, facing the invasion of the Armenian King Tigranes the Great would give some historical relevance to the character.